I am joining Jenny for Alphabe-Thursday
and Suzanne for Vintage Thingy Thursday
This week we have moved on to the letter H
I have chosen to share with you some Homer Laughlin Harlequin China
After the popularity of Fiesta, F. W. Woolworth, the nation-wide dime-store chain wanted an inexpensive china they could offer in their stores. Harlequin dishes were then produced by The Homer Laughlin China Company exclusively for F. W. Woolworth stores. Originally Harlequin was produced from 1936 until 1964. Harlequin dinnerware were later put back into production from 1979 until 1982. Harlequin was Woolworth's top selling dinnerware of all time.
The original 1930's Harlequin colors were Mauve Blue, Yellow, Spruce Green, and Maroon. In the 1940's Light Green, Turquoise, and Red Rose were added. The 1950's brought Chartreuse, Medium Green, Gray, and Forest Green to the collection.
If you are a novice collector, it is easy to confuse the two lines. But, if you know where to look, there are distinctive design differences. Unlike Fiesta, with its round curves and concentric circles, Harlequin is angular in shape. Notice the handle on the above creamer.
I have found most of these items at thrift stores. I 'think' the plates are also Harlequin but I am not sure. The plates were bought in an antique mall in Myrtle Beach, SC 10 years ago. I fell in love with the color and the shape. Since then I have found these teacups, saucers and two creamers.
Check out the prices in this old ad for Harlequin
On the way to Texas I made a little pit stop and well it just happened to be at this Antique Mall...what can I say? It was just a lucky coincidence ummm Really it was...really. I didn't have much time so did a quick pass through and saw lots of nice things but priced to high for this thrifty girl's purse. I then saw this item...the price was low because of the poor condition, but I still fell in love with it.
Again not much information on this piece, but it looks like it might be Harlequin. At any rate I love the color and the shape.
I love the detail of this edge
and the knob on the top...as you can see I did not have a chance to clean this up before taking photos. I wanted to include it in this post. So this is my H post for Homer Laughlin and the Harlequin pattern.
Be sure to stop by Jenny's & Suzanne's and check out the other fun post's for these two parties.
Always a Texan,
Linda
46 comments:
Now that was really interesting. I think I do remember those dishes. And Woolworth's - the 5 cent coke?
Pretty dishes. And you just lucked out with the yellow butter dish?
And you went thrifting on your trip already. And blogged. You go girl!
Have fun with your mom.
sandie
I really enjoyed reading your post and gaining some insight into this dinnerware. I love the colors.
I'm glad you got a little bit of thrifting time on your drive.
Jane
I love Fiestaware. It's beautiful and simple and yummy. I had never heard of Harlequin though. Thanks for the education.
Love this so much!!! I really just recently started seriously collecting depression glass, Hull and McCoy Brown Drip, etc., but I do not know a lot about Fiesta, etc. Now, I'm going to start looking. I love the colors and how it can be mixed with other pieces. Thanks for the lesson!!
I like the Turquoise cup, I've always find tea cups to be irresistible
I love the colors and designs of Harlequin and Fiesta. And I really miss Woolworth's.
First, just want to say I really like your banner!
The Harlequin dishes are so beautiful! Such bright cheerful colors! I enjoyed reading all about it, very informative! Thanks!
Katherine
I do remember Woolworth's but not the dinnerware. Thanks for sharing. They're so cute. Glad you made it to Texas safely.
Look at you, on a little vacation and still putting out LOL LOVE your new look too : )
I learn so much from your blog. I did not know any of this Linda.
We used to go to Woolworth's all the time. I loved taking pictures in the picture booth for 25cents. Your Woolworth was very different than ours. Me being in Canada I mean.
You know I LOVE the colours of all your Fiestaware. My colours right?
Three more sleeps. I'm ready to go.
Love You and say hi to your mom, have fun.
Love Claudie
xoxoxo
I love dishes and I love your Harlequin. I wish my mother would have been into collecting Harlequin. The colors are so vivid! I had never heard of it before and I loved your "H" posting. Joni
The yellow is my favorite. I have 8different colors if Fiesta wear and had paint mixed to match and painted each of my chairs one of the colors....love them!
I wouldn't have known the difference between Fiesta and HL Harlequin, but this was very interesting. I think I like the angles of this better!
www.adivashammer.com
H meme
love the vintage dishware...and anytime the HISTORY of pieces can be brought to light...my heart sings :)
i also like the vintage fabric (hibiscus)...tablecloth?
works so beautifully together.
i bet you have a great deal of fun looking to add to your bright collection!
Great dishes, I love the bright colors! :-)
i love the turquoise creamer ... thanks for the info,your post was very interesting and informative & I just adore vintage pieces.
I love learning about vintage stuff. What a personal, enjoyable, and informative post. The bright colors are wonderful! What a smart and fun collector you must be.
Interesting information! The colors on these are so nice. Your header photo with the green cup and bear is very cute.
My friend has all her Mom's Fiesta ware a really big collection, but I never see it in the Thrift stores I'm sure it's snapped up right away
Lovely dishes! I would have picked them up just for the colors! Woolworth's was our Wal-Mart in the 60's.
Good Morning!
Thanks for sharing that information because if I would have seen any of these dishes, I'd probably thought they were Fiestaware. Just like all good things, someone comes along with a "look-a-like"...close and yet so far away from the real thing! I actually like them both!
Have a great "H" Thursday!
My sister lives in a house that was built in 1940 and she tries to stay true to the period. So, I hunted and hunted for real fiestaware and cobbled together a nice set from ebay.
I'd never known about Homer Laughlin's stuff. I really like it, but, hey, I like anything vintage!!
They look like a lovely set of classics. Beautiful colours!
Love a vintage kitchen. Your pieces are beautiful.
lovely dishware. I like the art deco feel to it.
I wish someone in my family would have purchased these back then, they are amazing. Love the ad you have too, that is a really nice touch. I think I would frame that and hang it up! Love your butter dish, I'd have gotten it too, had a blast looking at your pictures today, wishing I had a set of these!! Have a great VTT!
I love the lines of these dishes. I'll keep my eyes opened for some. I really like to find some!
They look great and solid.
Thank you so much for sharing.
Happy Thursday!
hugs
shakira
http://justmeshakirack.blogspot.com/2010/03/save-great-lakes-now.html
HOPE FOR GREAT LAKES NOW!
http://justmeshakirack.blogspot.com/2010/03/theme-thursday-hats.html
THEME THURSDAY-HATS
I love the dishes. I have to say when I saw what your word was at Jenny's I was surprised until I saw you were talking about dishes. I thought at first you were going to write about romance novels LOL. Maybe its not spelled the same way.
My everyday dishes are Fiestaware and I have the green and yellow also. I'm always looking for coordinating pieces whereever I shop.
Ann
I loved your post..and I so love the dishes. I love their soft creamy colors..just look at the wonderful buttery yellow butter dish. Just perfect. Happy VTT..have a lovely weekend.
Hi Linda~ ~Thanks for stopping by for a visit. I love meeting new friends in Blogland.
Your post is very interesting As I had not heard of Harlequin!! Weird because we all know Fiesta.
The vintage towels in the background are wonderful!
~ ~Ahrisha~ ~
Thank you for the information! I just love pretty dishware, and you've reminded me that I need a butter dish! :-)
Love how you give so much information on your pieces.It is very interesting and I always like to know what I'm looking at when I go shopping at thrift stores.Have a wonderful day!
~Wendy
Gasp...I love it and I've never heard of it! YAY! Something new to look for when I'm thrifting!
i love the bright colors :D
Great colors in your H post! Lovely :) .
Blessings,
Catherine
Very interesting post. Thanks for sharing! I'll have to be on the lookout for these. They are very pretty.
Thank you for sharing all this information. These are wonderful finds. I've only heard of Fiesta, not the Harlequin. These pieces are so cheerful.
Very informative post! I didn't know the different between Fiesta and Harlequin either.
I think I actually like the more angular handles on the Harlequin.
I hope the rest of your trip is as fun as the beginning!
And here's a little A+ to help make your day Happy!
I thought it was fiesta until I really started looking at the details...what a cool post and I love your harlequin pieces! happy h day!
Very interesting and informative post! Thanks so much! Peace, Stephanie
Lovely design and really interesting post.
Gorgeous photos.
I am in love with jadeite, but it is hard to find and costly. Maybe, I'll try branching out into this pretty stuff...
Really interesting post. I love fiesta ware, but it tends to be pricey, especially the accessory pieces. I'll have to start keeping my eyes peeled for this. Love that butter dish! Kathy
I love the colors in these! I'd heard of Fiestaware but not Harlequin so it's fun to learn something new =)
I've never heard of Harlequin china before- Love the angles and shapes. I'll have to keep a lookout for these neat pieces!
Post a Comment