It’s highly likely that you or someone you know has some Fiestaware in their kitchen cabinet. The brightly colored ceramic glazed dinnerware by The Homer Laughlin China Company has been around since the company started producing them in 1936.
If you have vintage Fiestaware in your attic, make sure to dust it off cause it could be worth some big bucks! In the past few months alone, we’ve seen a Fiestaware vase, casserole dish and pitcher being sold on eBay for $400-$500.
So how do you know if you’re sitting on a pile of cash? Avid Fiestaware collector, Merrill Miller, says the condition is number one: “Many people think because an item is vintage it is worth money, but most of the time, that is not the case,” she told TODAY Home. “Unless the piece is extremely rare, collectors are not going to pay for pieces with damage or crazing.”
Once you determine that the condition is good, you will want to see how common your piece is – the more unusual it is, the more money it can fetch. Some of the more unusual vintage items to look for include covered onion soup bowls, covered demi pots and carafes, candleholders, covered marmalade and mustard jars, six-piece relish trays in mixed or solid colors and fluted vases (8 inch, 10 inch and 12 inch).
You’ll then want to check the color as it can raise the price even higher With red-striped pieces selling for the most money: “A medium green eggcup is impossible to find but very common in another color,” she said. “Only an experienced collector would know this.”
The best place to cross-check your pieces are in books like “Fiesta, Harlequin, and Kitchen Kraft Dinnerwares” by the Homer Laughlin China Collectors Association and “Collector’s Encyclopedia of Fiesta” by Bob and Sharon Huxford.
There are also a ton of Fiestaware groups on Facebook with people discussing the rarity of different pieces they’ve found.
“Values are determined by how many people want a piece and what they are willing to pay,” she said. “Some people get caught up in an auction and a piece can sell over its value if you have two people who fight over it.”
Time to call grandma!
