BLUE PLATE SPECIAL

We were dining at the Los Mariachis restaurant in Springfield with thirteen members of Gerald's family and I said, "Oh, look, Sweetheart, these dishes are Fiesta ware.", as I lifted up a cup of tea to look at the bottom of the dish.

There were at least ten different Fiesta colors represented on the table with predominately red, blue, turquoise, and yellow shades.  I mentioned that I had a set of red Fiesta ware and one person pointed to a plate and asked, "Is that your color?"  I answered, "No, that is persimmon and ours are scarlet."  Another person asked, "How many colors do you think they have?"  There were five original colors when the line was introduced in 1936 and turquoise was added in 1937.  In the history of the company there have been 47 different colors offered.  The art deco designs were very popular after their introduction, faded out of favor in the 1940s, were then back in favor in the 1950s, and continue to be popular today.

I have two friends who are collectors and sellers of vintage Fiesta and I am always on the lookout for items for them.  I told about visiting the Homer Laughlin plant in Newell, West Virginia, with one of my experts, where I purchased nearly all of my pieces.

Cobalt blue was the color of the blue plate at Los Mariachis and it is still offered today by Homer Laughlin.  As Gerald looked at the plate he pointed out flaws on the edge of my plate at my place setting.  I said, "No, it's a BLUE PLATE SPECIAL!"  A young family member had never heard the term before and did not "get" my feeble attempt at witticism. 

I wondered about the derivation of the "blue plate special" term.  From the Collins Dictionary:  "an inexpensive restaurant meal served at a fixed price on a large, oftentimes segmented, blue plate".    See the history from YouTube: