Saturday, January 7, 2012

Out With The Old

When Tony and I got married more than 30 years ago, our dish pattern was a very simple Wedgwood stoneware called Blue Pacific; a greyish-cream background, with a blue band around the rim.  I eventually had a service for 8 (dinner plates, salad plates, soup bowls, bread and butter plates, coffee cups, and saucers) along with serving bowls and platters.

We used the pieces everyday.  As you might expect, along the way some things got broken, but it didn't matter; there was still more than enough for our family of five.  However, somewhere in the late 90s I tried to get some replacement plates, only to find out the pattern had been discontinued.  I bought a set of 5 blue-and-white ironstone plates and kept going.

I really like the Wedgwood, and there's a lot of good memories associated with it.  I've investigated options for filling in the gaps in the set.  The dishes I needed were pretty pricy on the online sites, and I could never find another pattern that had the right shape and color.  Last year we were down to five salad plates (which I tend to use instead of the larger dinner plates) and four cereal bowls, one of which was starting to crack.

For Christmas Tony and I received a joint present from Son Brian and Daughter-In-Law Nicole: a huge box filled with eight smaller boxes, each containing a place setting of Fiestaware in Cobalt Blue.  I loved the dark blue color, but wondered if it wasn't time to start fresh, so with Nicole's permission I exchanged six of the boxes for two of each of three other colors.  Now my cabinet is a riot of Cobalt, Scarlet, Lemongrass, and Sunflower:

That shelf needs a dusting, doesn't it?
I boxed up the old vintage dishes to make room for the new ones. I'm going to look into selling them to a china replacement store. Maybe I'll get enough to replace the serving dishes, too, and my discards will make someone else's day.

10 comments:

  1. What a fun thing to do. It's nice to get something knew and know that your old is going to make someone else very happy. Your new Fiestaware will be a shot of cheer everytime you open the cabinet door.

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  2. Good choice! I love Fiestaware and all those great colors.

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  3. These are beautiful. What nice kids you have.

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  4. Oh, you lucky duck! I've always wanted the Fiestaware. They always make me happy to look at them, but I have enough plates... sigh...

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  5. I love what you've done with your wonderful gift! You've really brightened up your cupboards and when you set the table it's going to look amazing!

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  6. I love the Fiestaware colors too :) I keep threatening to buy a new set of dishes, but I still have small children, so we are sticking with our current set (~15 year-old discontinued Pfaltzgraff ones--luckily we havent broken too many yet, they're just getting scratched up).

    Our fancy china is also a discontinued set that I bought on Ebay. For selling your old ones, you might want to see what the going rates are there before deciding where to sell them. I've had good lucky buying from Replacements, Ltd, but have never tried to sell dishes.

    Good luck and enjoy your beautiful new set!

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  7. Hi Kathy,
    I was wondering if you have sold your Wedgwood Blue Pacific as yet. I actually have the china which was left to me from my uncle who passed away many years ago. I have been trying to finish off the set. I absolutely love it, and my mom (his sister) is thilled that I am using it.

    Congrats to you on getting Fiestare. It is a wonderful set of china, that has had resurgence recently. It is a very sturdy and fun-filled.

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  8. The fiesta ware looks so pretty and bright! You might try selling the other dishes on Ebay or Craigslist--depending on what the replacement dealers will give you.

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  9. Nothing will ever replace my Blue Pacific stoneware. My parents bought it on a trip to England in the mid seventies as a wedding gift for me. Darn Wedgewood for discontinuing it!

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    Replies
    1. Jetagain, thanks for stopping by. I agree with you; Blue Pacific was such a basic pattern I can't believe it was discontinued.

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