Your china pattern(s) and any family history or stories connected with it.

[dustin92]

Our "everyday" dishes are Sheffield "provincial" stoneware, and the "good" china is "The >riendly Village". I really like the pattern, but they are hard to match glasses/tablecloth/napkins. The everyday dishes have matching glasses, tablecloths, and napkins for up to 8. The napkins are the limiter for a semi formal dinner, the dishes were originally a set of 20 but at the point we inherited them, some had been broken, we still have 15 blue stemmed water glasses so not too bad. The good china looks nice at christmas though with red napkins and a poinsettia tablecloth.

 

[maytagbear]

I have more dishware

than any single man should probably have.

The really good stuff is Franciscan Starburst. Ma's wedding dishes. Complete service for 8, including pitchers, vegetable bowls, large platter.....

The better than pretty good set is Noritake Lace Shadow, a late 1980s-early90s pattern. I was the only one interested in it after the death of a favorite aunt and uncle in a car smash.

The kitchen dishes are new production Fiesta, mostly in White and Juniper. Last years of Ma's life, she was nearly blind by macular degeneration. So, I put dark foods on light plates, and light food on dark plates. I have a few, few pieces of vintage Fiesta, mostly in Cobalt.

I also have a few pieces of Texas Ware melamine, and some odds and ends from Goodwill.

I also have a fair bit of crystal, mostly Franciscan in the Madeira pattern, Cornsilk color. All of which has been purchased for not very much at flea markets, Goodwill, and at Replacements.com

Yes, I put all of the above in the dishwasher, though not at the same time. That would be a Bobload to out Bob our Bob!

When I set a table, I like to mix all of the above. I'm just a madcap that way!

My sister got our maternal grandmother's early post-war Franciscan Desert Rose. It's appropriate, since she got Grandma's dining room suite.

Lawrence/Maytagbear

 

[retropia]

Mom has some type of nice china; not sure what kind as it is rather formal and not to my taste. She also has lots and lots of stoneware. The one I'm especially fond of is a pattern called California Tempo by Metlox Poppytrail. It's a fairly simple, mid-century-modern design, introduced I believe in 1960. It came in four colors, each with brown trim. Mom has pieces in all four colors and they look good mixed together.

Hubby's daily driver dishes that he brought into the household are Pfaltzgraff in the Northwinds pattern. It is a simple white stoneware with a dark blue and bluegreen band around the outer edge. The size of the pieces is good and we've been using them for years, but they don't seem especially durable; they chip easily. Long out of production, I've decided it's not worth trying to buy additional pieces, and he's not emotionally attached to the set.

My daily driver dishes had been Dansk Generation Brown Mist, that were placed in storage in favor of using the Pfaltzgraff. The Dansk dishes were a set that I inherited, and while I appreciate the Scandinavian design, it is a bit austere and bleak. It's also out of production.

A couple of years ago we decided to go with new Fiestaware. It is surprisingly durable, and it's fun to mix the colors. Department stores have it on sale often. Plus, the factory outlet store isn't too far away, just across the Ohio River in Newell, WV. (I have to cross a scary bridge to get there, though.) They have a huge room in the old factory filled with seconds.

I like the fact that it's made in the US, plus it is unlikely to go out of production. Of course I've learned it is best not to get too attached to any particular color of Fiesta as those change regularly.

 

[wolfbait]

Corelle ware

My set of Corelle (old world blue pattern, I think) has lasted me through 5 marriages (over 33 years), and is still used every day (these days just me, mostly). My ma's wedding china is an unknown pattern by Jaeger & Co. I also have a set of Royal Castle (?)china made in Japan. These are my go-to dishes for guests (still better than everyday, but not as precious as the wedding china). I love talking about these memories! Jeez, I sound old!

 

[wolfbait]

Gas Station Giveaway glassware

Back in the day, the Sigmor (I believe) gas stations gave away glassware with every purchase. This glassware was lightly smoky looking, with a dark smoky pedestal base on it. I believe they were made by Libby. We had literally HUNDREDS of pieces...I tried to find a good home, and hubby upset me one city wide junk pickup day and I put them all out on the curb to be scooped up and dumped into a trash truck. As they were breaking, so was my heart...I grew up using those. Looking back, I should have put him out on the curb!

 

[firedome]

for those who like Turqouoise and MCM...

Ikea has a pattern out that looks very vintage early 1960s, called "365+". It's a rounded square shape for plates, comes in turquoise or white, has several sizes and matching bowls, and very inexpensive... just got a set.

BTW we love Franciscan Starburst, love to find a set of that!

 

[davey7]

I have my grandmothers Schumann china, which I cannot find any reference to anywhere online - I don't know how she acquired it, she only bought top of the line stuff and saved up to do so. And there are no soup bowls, which is kind of a hassle. It's the blue and white china with cheese in the photo.

No other china, just a couple of plates for everyday use and IKEA silverware (I think I have some good stuff, but I hate polishing silver) and some cool wood handled steak knives from Sheffield (again, from Grandma).

I grew up with Franciscan, don't remember name of the pattern, apples or something and my mom's good wedding china (very Samantha Stevens, at least our decor was sans shag and avocado). Now that I think about it, my parents married late, I'm surprised they didn't have more of that stuff on their own, they were both professionals.

 

[rp2813]

Meito, Made in Japan

The only real china I own.  My mom bought it at Sears in 1936 when she worked there.  My Aunt Mary on my dad's side (married to Dad's older brother Frank), who Mom knew before she had met my dad, also got the same set.  My mom worked at Sears with Aunt Mary's sister, Marge.  Mary was my favorite aunt by far.  She had a bit of a Holly Golightly streak and was all about having fun.  She couldn't cook worth a damn, though.

 

Anyway, Mom and Mary made a pact in later years.  Whoever went first, the other got their set of china.  Mom ended up with Mary's china.  Now it's all in my possession and I have extra serving pieces.   This was the good china used by my mom almost exclusively over the years, even though she had gradually built up a full set of Lennox by the early 1980's.

 

Pictured item is a saucer.  The pattern is too frilly for my taste, but with all the pieces along with the good silver, it makes for a nice table at Thanksgiving.  The flash gave it a more blue cast, but you get the idea.  The center area is white and the area between center and border is a very pale yellow.  Non-flash pix came out blurry.

 

[rp2813]

Recent Purchase

Some of you may recall this set I got an estate sale a couple of months ago. 

 

Star-Glow by Royal China.  Practical service for eight.  Coffee for 12.

 

[rp2813]

Not China

The first "good" dinnerware I ever bought.  I worked for a high-end furniture retailer in the mid-80's and they were eliminating their china department.  This Ralph Lauren (made in Italy) set is beefy -- very heavy -- and masculine.  I got service for 12 for something like $40 after deep discounts and then my employee discount on top of that.   It was like 80% off.

 

Some pieces got chipped or broken, but I still have most of it.  It's basically earth-tone glazed pottery.  To its credit, it held up well as our everyday stuff while we had two rather careless teenage girls in the house.  It went well with the red-handled flatware we were using at the time.

 

Pictured is one of the soup bowls.  Wide and flat, with a large rim.

 

[rp2813]

Mc Coy

Canyon-ware.  Practical service for four, with extra bread plates, mugs, an oblong serving bowl and a creamer.  $25 for everything at Salvation Army about a year ago.

 

Picture is a little blurry but the color is more accurate than with flash.  That's a bread plate.

 

[rp2813]

Just a Few Pieces

Frank Lloyd Wright "Whirling Arrow" pattern.  Made by the H.F. Coors (yes, that Coors) china company in Tucson.  They operate a factory store and bone yard on the premises and once a month throw the doors open to the manufacturing area where there are racks and racks of china in all types of patterns, many made for restaurants (including the likes of the famous Ahwhanee Hotel in Yosemite Valley), that are all seconds and priced super cheap.

 

I bought four dinner plates in Eggshell White ($2 each, normally $30), four mugs in Fern Green ($1 each, normally $16) and a large 110-oz serving bowl in Slate Gray ($10, normally $62).  I can't find the flaws on any of them. Once again, the flash messed with the color tone in the attached picture.

 

If you ever make plans to visit Tucson, time it for the first Saturday of the month and check this place out!

http://hfcoors.com/factorystore.html

 

[twintubdexter]

Some very nice china pictured here. So many of you are fortunate to have sets that belonged to your mothers or grandmothers. My grandparents were already gone by the time I was born and since my mom and her sisters were raised in a Catholic orphanage in Oakland...my Aunt corrected me this past week and said it was a "Convent" but certainly not like the one in "The Sound of Music" or "The Flying Nun" since they received beatings on a regular basis...I have no heirloom pieces.

About 15 years ago, shortly before my partner Dale died suddenly, he went on a china shopping spree at Macy's and purchased a ton of Wedgewood "Huming Bird" (that's the way it's spelled on the back.) We used the set once, on a Fourth of July barbeque with my parents and brothers...spareribs on china, is that dumb or what? Being a natural-born klutz, this stuff is not practical since it needs to be hand-washed. It was discontinued years ago so replacement pieces are pricey. I'm sure it will remain a "used-once" set until after I'm gone.

like Dale, everyone loves hummingbirds

 

[twintubdexter]

I keep the real hummingbirds outside...there are tons of them

 

[foraloysius]

Joe,

What a beautiful set of china!! Dale sure had taste. I have seen a lot of china in my life, but this set is amazing.

Louis

 

[norgeway]

Metlox Poppytrail!

I have my Mothers set of Metlox California Ivy she got in 1950!

 

[angus]

Unfortunately my parents never could afford any real "good china". However, one of my uncles worked for a trucking company and occasionally some things "fell off the truck" so that is how my mother got her "Japanese Garden" china - fairly plain white with a platinum band and pale blue leaves/flowers on the border. Never cared for it much so in the 80's my sister and I bought her a service for 12 in the Lenox Amethyst pattern. Usual off white china with platinum band and amethyst flowers on the border. Used it on holidays but a pain since it had to be handwashed. Got the whole service for 12 and serving pieces at Fortunoff's on a huge sale for under $400. It reposes in the china cabinet now and since it is long since discontinued, replacement pieces are a fortune.

I decided that I wanted something I could use and put in the dishwasher without worry. So I went for Villeroy and Boch's "Twist Alea" pattern. Not bone china, but porcelain. White with a rainbow of little color blocks around the rim. Love it and never fails to get lots of comments at dinner parties and holidays. Love the white background with the color. Goes great with my Williams Sonoma pale pink "hotel weight" tablecloth and napkins (love those linens and have several sets of napkins and cloths in white since pink was discontinued. They launder and iron beautifully and look fresh and crisp. I digress, though. For most occasions my stemware is Villeroy and Boch's New Cottage Clear. I use the water goblets as wine glasses and the Iced Tea goblets as water glasses (I love big beverage glasses). However being a self confessed tabletop whore, I have many sets of wine glasses and water glasses. But again, I tend to use the stuff that can be put in the dishwasher since my dinner parties are usually for 12 - 16 and washing that many glasses by hand is too daunting - besides they never come out as clean and spot free as the dishwasher gets them. I also have but am terrified to use very delicate Kosta Boda crystal. It is absolutely simple and beautiful but incredibly fragile. Got that in 1982 at the company warehouse sale in New Jersey at something like $4.00 per glass. So I went for the whole suite - and did use it over the years but really need to replace some pieces. I think I broke three water goblets and five wine glasses and it is now $45 per stem. Lots of luck!!

On to flatware - my mother did have her mother in law's Oneida Morning Star silver plate and service for 16 to boot. Sure it is plate, but it still looks great and is nice and heavy in the hand. I love the little scratches that show how it has been used again and again. And it gives me great pleasure to set the table with something that has been on our holiday tables since Nana bought it in 1948. My good stainless is Gorham's Tristan (of course, now discontinued)

My daily dinnerware has evolved over the years but is now a boatload of Fiestaware. One of my friends had his partner move in with him who then decreed that only white must be on the table so he gave me his entire service for 12 in assorted colors. I have also collected a fair amount on my own using Greenfield"s to pick up some discontinued colors (pale yellow, coral, jade green and rose pink). So now I have an additional Fiestaware service for 16 that even includes the very collectible Lilac color - had to get that from ebay but still cheaper than Replacements.com.

Let's not even get into placemats and napkins...

 

[davey7]

RP - those dishes from Sears are lovely. Reminds me that my mom wanted her families old Sears Roebuck dining room table until she saw how her brother mangled restoring it... Your dishes are much nicer.

Those hummingbird dishes are stunning!

 

[polkanut]

A thrifting find of a lifetime!

<span style="font-family: georgia, palatino;">Today, my dear wife, while out on one of her weekly thrift store rounds, came across the salt & pepper shakers for our Cunningham & Pickett Norway Rose pattern china.  Replacements.com has them listed for $127.46-10%=$114.71.  She bought the pair for 50¢, and they're in mint condition!  She said she felt like she was on Antiques Roadshow and was just told that what she had was worth a small fortune.  I'm so proud of her.  I've trained her eye well.</span>

http://www.replacements.com/webquote/CUPNOR.htm?mkd=062520140008289300

 

[estatesale_gary]

Dish Queen

I've collected pottery and dinnerware for many years. Primary interest is Red Wing and California pottery. Go to Modish link below, then go to "Museum" link, then "Collections", then "The Gary Klun Collection."

Sets that I have that have a history? Red Wing Pepe - 1963. Both Grandmothers got them from the IGA Store in my hometown as a premium. Have their surviving pieces and completed the set. Franciscan Starburst. Grandma Mollie's sewing club dishes. Complete with ashtrays.

http://modish.net/