Your PopCulteer is back from his anniversary trip, rested up and ready to bring you the first of several photo essays devoted to the cool stuff we saw and did on our trip. Today is all about Fiesta Tableware!

We’re doing these out of order, so don’t expect any strict continuity here.

Today we bring you more than a dozen photos from inside the museum that visitors get to see at the end of the Fiesta Factory Tour.  Sadly, we did not get to go on the tour as scheduled. Something happened that caused the production line to be shut down, so we were taken to a small room and took the video tour instead,  It was a minor disappointment, but it also gives us an excuse to make another visit sometime in the future.  When you schedule the tour, they warn you in advance that it might be replaced with a video tour, so we were prepared for the possibility.

Plus, the video was pretty intriguing. And we got to watch it in the small room that serves as the Homer Laughlin/Fiesta museum that we’d get to see at the end of the regular tour. This was a big part of the attraction for Mel, so the day was not a total loss.

In fact, that room was filled with so much cool stuff that Mel came away with several new grails to seek out for her collection, and I grabbed a ton of photos, from which I have fifteen for you to see today.

There is such a rich history of the former Homer Laughlin company, and they made lots of things in that factory that we were not previously aware of, so it was still a wonderful time.

Ironically, that room with museum is behind a door that we have obliviously walked right past every time we’ve been to the Fiesta Outlet Store before.

We do want to return for the physcial tour, but I understand that they shut the tour down in October, until January, so that they can start doing experimental runs of the next color that won’t be unveiled until the new year.

But here’s some highlights of that awesome collection in the museum…

The room is filled, floor-to-ceiling, with rare pieces from the history of Homer Laughlin/Fiesta.

Everywhere you look, you see examples of rare commemorative pieces and retired colors.

This amazing Art Deco vase was mind-blowing, and then we found out that, shockingly, it was a very limited production that was only made five years ago.

My eyes were instantly drawn to these Dick Tracy children’s pieces from the 1950s

We were unaware of how many figural pieces Homer Laughlin made back in the 1930s and 40s.

For instance, it was a surprise to see that they’d made small fish, cats and other animals

I’m going to have to find one of these cats for Mel.

And this fish reminds me of one Sharon Lyn Stackpole made for me years ago.

There is such an amazing amount of beautiful and brightly-colored pottery crammed into one room.

We could’ve just stared at this stuff for hours if they’d let us.

The history on display is just amazing. These pieces are all between 80 and 95 years old.

The Art Deco designs are gorgeous, and you can see some of the little animals poking out between them.

Even more vibrant colors and intricate designs

We take one last look at that room full of amazing pottery and dinnerware.

The Fiesta Factory is an amazing treasure to visit, and we hope to return and go on the full factory tour someday.

 

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