We left on the Sunday before the Yard Sale and made a couple side trips before the big sale!
The first stop...The Homer Laughlin China Factory and Outlet! I have been a HUGE fan of Fiesta (a line of china designed in the 1930's by Frederick Hurten Rhead that is still produced and sold today) for several years. I was sooo excited to make this stop on our trip!
I checked them out on their website (www.hlchina.com) and found out you can take a free tour of their factory! All you have to do is call ahead to make reservations. I scheduled our tour for 10:30am Monday morning. We spent the night at a local hotel, and ate at a local restaurant-that served our dinner on FIESTA! The website doesn't tell you how long the tour is, only that there are 2 tours daily (10:30 & 12:30). I assumed the tour would be a quick one---boy, was I wrong! It was a full 2 hour tour-for FREE! It was so awesome!! Very informative, and very interesting! It made me love Fiesta even more!
After the tour, you can browse their one room museum and shop in the store. Don't miss the seconds room! It is a room off of the main showroom where they "seconds", items that don't meet their standards for first quality. A lot of times you can find a "second" that you really have to search for a flaw or defect.
I'd LOVE to take the tour again, as well as some day visit for their bi-annual tent sale! Although I do have some vintage Fiesta, my main collection is post 1986, mainly Plum and Chartreuse. We use the newer Fiesta (in all the bright colors) as our everyday dishes. It is so nice to open your cupboard to get a bowl or mug or plate out and see all of the many bright colors--it just makes me smile!
Here are some pictures of our trip to Newell, West Virginia and the Homer Laughlin China Factory!
Sorry...the pictures loaded in reverse order of what I wanted!
World's largest teapot just down the road from HLC factory.
Turning into the property.
YAY!
Welcome to Newell sign with Fiesta right in the middle.
The Newell Bridge
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