QUESTION OF THE DAY, APRIL 28, 2021

[susanm9006]

Thos are pretty! I'd keep them too.

I bought a set of Pfaltzgraff Summer Breeze stoneware dishes when I moved out of my parents' house, and I have maybe half of those left. I do tend to break dishes on a semi-regular basis so some shrinkage is to be expected, lol. I also have some cheap plain white stoneware plates I bought specifically for the cats' canned food, because they have a high edge to keep the food from sliding off, but I'll use them for myself sometimes, depending on the dish situation.


I always wanted to have an eclectic set of random dishes, and now that there's been a fair amount of shrinkage this is probably a good time to hit the thrift stores and see what I can find.

I do love Pfaltzgraf. They used to have an outlet store not far from me and I could spend hours in that store looking at all the beautiful things. And it’s also so durable.

 

[Willowy]

If you look long enough EVERYTHING shows up at the thrift store.

Yeah, but I'm not an avid thrift store shopper. I go maybe twice a year, so chances aren't high of finding exactly what I want.

I like Corelle; it doesn't break easily, but when it does break it shatters into teeny tiny little bitty shards that are impossible to clean up. So I gave up on it. At least when stoneware breaks it just cracks into a few pieces.

 

[sivyaleah]

Same dishes I've had for longer than I remember.
I collect Fiestaware. My regular dishes are all mix and match colors. They hold up really well over time other than the lighter colors which will eventually look marked and scratched.
I keep thinking I'd like a different every day set but i have so much of the Fiesta it seems wasteful to let it go. Some pieces are even worth a good amount of money too. So there's that.

 

[Jem]

I have many sets....but I never bought any of them! I don't have a way to take pictures so I'll be trying to find them on-line...
I took an old set from my parents when I moved out on my own...the ones we used when I was a kid. They are very plain, just clear glass. Its not a complete set.
I can't believe I found a picture of them online!!! they are pretty old.

My husband brought dishes from his house when he moved in...it's a mix of 2 different corelle sets. one white and one off-white and they have just a little trim design around the plate/bowl edges....also not a complete set.

Then we got a ceramic oversized set of four at a staff party gift exchange, they are brown.
sorta like these but round instead of square.

I also have my nice set that my Mom gifted me as house warming gift. They are plain white but have an embossed design around all the edges.
not the exact same but these are really similar...

I'm really happy too that I will be getting my Grandmother's Christmas china set. It is a 12 place setting with all the extras like the gravy boat and other serving dishes. They are absolutely beautiful with a delicate pinkish poinsettia pattern throughout the whole dish...not just around the rims.
I can't find them on-line!!!

 

[susanm9006]

Anyone else had an issue with chips? Something about seeing a chip I just cannot stand. So a single chip and out goes the plate, bowl or cup. Probably when I have had so many sets...

 

[Jem]

Anyone else had an issue with chips?

I hate chips.....but I'm also kinda cheap. So as long as the chip doesn't have a sharp edge that could cut someone I keep it....but it gets put at the bottom of the pile so it isn't used as often. I guess it depends on how bad the chip is too.
Thankfully very few of my dishes have chips.....only 2 that I can remember and they're not very bad.

 

[MonaLyssa33]

I bought a matching set of dishes in 2011 I believe and then I won a set in a local auction last summer. I generally don't care about things matching though, so I will almost definitely get things from thrift stores or local auctions if I need replacements. The first set was white with red rims and the set I bought last summer is just clear. I have a few other mismatched plates that I took from my parents too.

 

[neely]

Anyone else had an issue with chips? Something about seeing a chip I just cannot stand.

Same here, DH chipped a plate pretty badly and wanted to keep it but I said, "No Way!"

 

[denice]

I have this Corelle set. I have had it for 10 or 12 years and is discontinued but it can still be found a few places. This picture is from Amazon.

 

[debbila]

My husband brought dishes from his house when he moved in...it's a mix of 2 different corelle sets. one white and one off-white and they have just a little trim design around the plate/bowl edges....also not a complete set.

I have the dinner plates from Jem 's Corelle set on the right. My bowls are from another set.
I have four sandwich plates with a french design. Also four cups and saucers with another french design.

I still have a set of Blue Garland Haviland china that I bought to replace what I had many years ago. I seldom use it since I have tile floors and have broken so many other dishes since I moved here.

 

[debbila]

P.S. to my first post:
I was so fortunate to find the china that I missed from years ago, in a few thrift shops!

 

[Mia6]

Good China

Every day

 

[Winchester]

We use Fiesta most of the time. In November, I put all the Fiesta away and get out our Winterberry for the holidays. Then around the end of February, I get the Fiesta back out.

Everybody knows what Fiesta looks like. There is a Fiesta cake pan on the hutch; I keep it out year around because it's red. We have Fiesta in all the colors. Here are some of the Winterberry serving dishes on the hutch. I really like the Winterberry pattern, but stopped buying pieces when Pfaltzgraff moved to China. Fiesta is still made in the US.

Between my parents and Rick's parents, I have a lot of serving pieces for both Winterberry and for Fiesta. Birthday presents, Christmas gifts, etc.

 

[misty8723]

I have a set we got when we got married in 1980, which I don't use because we rarely have anyone over for dinner (almost never, only if it's some relative of husband in town and I discourage dinner because I hate to/can't cook. I also have a set of stoneware that I collected when some store was selling them cheap with grocery purchase. However, the dishes we use for everyday are the same set of Melmac dishes husband had when i met him in 1977. They are industructibe (no I haven't tried)dy

 

[AbbysMom]

This one is a timely question for me as I have been researching my mother's china.

When we got married in 1992 we bought some plain stoneware for every day-

We still use it occasionally but I bought some new dishes a few years ago from Kohls -

My "good" china is also from saving receipts from a grocery store. When I was a kid my mother and both brothers worked at a grocery store. I have a full set -

I'm packing up things in my mother's house and she has a full set of china that I am trying to figure out what to do with it. I do not like it and I doubt my brother or any of my nieces or nephews would want it -

That's gold leaf around the edges. I need to google more, but my initial googling leads me to believe it's not really worth all that much.

She also has a few decorative pieces of what I think may have been my grandmother's china -

 

[maggiedemi]

All you guys that are using older dishes, do you ever worry about them having lead or other harmful stuff?
I worry about it a lot, but I still use them, haven't died yet.

 

[neely]

All you guys that are using older dishes, do you ever worry about them having lead or other harmful stuff?

You brought up a great point so I looked it up and here's what I found: Because the FDA did not begin regulating lead in dishes until the 1970s, plates manufactured before that are much more likely to contain dangerous levels of lead.

Lead is not only in dishes thought it's found in certain food, supplements, cosmetics, etc. Here's some interesting information regarding lead from the FDA: Lead in Food, Foodwares, and Dietary Supplements

 

[aliceneko]

The crockery in our house is the same my mum has had for several years, some of it is from when she was a student in the '80s and she's kept them ever since. We even still use some of my grandma's old plates but they're very hardy - she's no longer with us, but her plates live on. The only thing we regularly by new items of are mugs. I'm somewhat a collector of them.

 

[LTS3]

I've had the same set of dishes for over 10 years now. They have a dogwood flower-like pattern on them. My dish towels match the dishes

 

[fionasmom]

Go to MAMAVATION | Non-Toxic Products For Healthy Families or Lead Safe Mama if you want to research lead and cadmium in just about anything. I use new white Corelle only as the older stuff does have lead in it. And, yes, if it breaks you might as well sell the house as you are never going to find all the pieces. However, I have a thing about older English china and stoneware and look for it in second hand stores and online. I have a lot of Grindley Royal Tudor in blue and more recently the Wrendale animals.

Amazon.com | Royal Worcester Wrendale Designs Fox and Hare Tea Plate 16.5cm (Pair): Dinner Plates

Royal tudor grindley | Etsy