<p>You are all going to think I’m turning into WashMom.</p>
<p>While WashMom has no problem with them, I’m getting sick of the plates, saucers, and bowls we have owned since we were married. They are very dated, and the collection is far from complete since we have lost several pieces through attrition. I stopped by a local Fred Meyer’s kitchen department and looked through the “everyday china” on display. Some of it was quite nice, but all of it was made in China. Having been through so many scares in the last 10 years of Chinese-made goods being tainted with fun stuff like lead, I’m really reluctant to buy china from China. (It’s possible I posted this just to type “china from China.”)</p>
<p>Am I crazy? Does non-expensive china come from anywhere else? Can I find anything as durable as the 30-year-old Mikasa stoneware we have now?</p>
<p>Please, solve my problems for me. And help me convince WashMom that we can ditch the old, chipped stuff without offending the wedding guests who gave it to us in the days of disco.</p>
<p>(We inherited her mom’s fine china a few years ago. I suggested that we either use our fine china or her mom’s as our “daily china” so that at least one set would get used occasionally, rather than staying closed up in a china closet for 364 days a year. It turns out that suggesting this was a bad idea.)</p>
<p>I am a proud owner of Fiestaware, made in the good old USA, in Newell, WV. We have lighted, glass doored cabinets in the kitchen; tableware looks great just stacked inside. We mix and match colors, so breakage is not a problem.</p>
<p>If you and WashMom like your fancy china AND it’s MACHINE WASHABLE (LOL, sorry to yell! see the Parade article quoted by Jym yesterday), then I agree that you can use that as your every-day china. If not, why don’t you peruse a china/dish catalog or website with WashMom, earmark some of her favorites, and surprise her with a new every-day set for Christmas or her b-day?..You surprised her with a Miata in the past didn’t you? My sister has some “Villeroy and Boch” which has held up for years that I love! (I’m not sure where it’s made).</p>
<p>I second the Villeroy & Boch. We have two different patterns, and with over 20 years use of one and 10 of the other, we’ve had very, very few chips. It’s beautiful, durable stuff. Their website says:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>They don’t say where the plants are, however.</p>
<p>Noritake has some nice stuff, and I think they are more careful in Japan than they are in China. And some Noitake used to be made in England/Ireland. Now there is always Wedgewood. And Waterford makes their own china.</p>
<p>I do like Fiestaware. You either like it or you don’t.</p>
<p>I, too am a fan of FiestaWare. It’s fun, it’s colorful, it’s USA!</p>
<p>We tossed the old stuff after a recent kitchen remodel. The FiestaWare is the first set of daily dishes I picked out as before my MIL was dictating our dinnerware tastes (she bought us a nice set for our first anniversary and our 15th or something like that…25 years, new kitchen, MY plate preference).</p>
<p>WashDad - time to pick out your own dishes!</p>
<p>I love Fiestaware, except for its weight. So I finally broke down and bought another set of good old lasts forever lightweight Corelle but the pattern is very bright and cheerful. I cannot tell you how many discussions my husband and I have had over everyday dishes and flatwear, it would just boggle your mind.</p>
<p>Our everyday dishes are Portmerion made in Wales I believe. We got a phenomenal price shopping on the web through a supplier in Canada. Open stock is often available so breakage is not a problem.</p>
<p>We also bought an incredibly beautiful set of fine China (I loved your china from China query) on ebay. It’s from 1930’s Czecheslovakia (pre-appeasement I’m sure). It is service for twelve, intact, with actual gilt borders. It has so many pieces it feels like it’s from a doll’s kitchen – cream soup bowls as distinguished from clear soup bowls for example. Cost? $700.00.</p>
<p>ebay also has new sets, China, stoneware, earthenware. The works!</p>
<p>WashDad, you are not alone in your dish fatigue. Our stoneware dishes are still the wedding originals (Sears, circa 1983), and have NEVER matched our colors. Only drawback is that we’ve only lost one plate and two bowls in all this time.</p>
<p>I’ve been looking lu****lly at new colors/patterns, though… But if DH and I start debating new dishes, it will take years – just like it takes us years to decide on a new stove, fridge, etc.! :)</p>
<p>OMG, I feel like we’ve been traveling in parallel universes! My H and I spent the weekend looking at dishes to replace the 25 year old Villeroy & Bosch set we got for our wedding! We too were concerned about the “china from China” issue, and reached no satisfactory results after a day of shopping. We will look at the fiesta ware after hearing from all the fans on this thread. I did get a great deal today on extra glass dinner plates (we’re having a very large crew for Thanksgiving and I obsess over things like matching dishware!) at BB& B. 8 for $8 after the 20% coupon! I don’t care how long it lasts…if I can get service for 24 for $24, I’m there!!! Btw, they have all sizes (dinner, salad, bowls) for the same price.</p>
<p>Just put on an apron already and get it over with!!</p>
<p>I never understood the whole idea behind “fine china” and displaying plates in a cabinet - who wants to admire a bunch of dishes? I’d much rather see it filled with electronic components or something.</p>
<p>Anyway, they’re just dishes. I’d vote for just donating what you don’t like and getting whatever you do like. I suppose you’re better off getting your wife’s permission first.</p>
<p>Our darlings (the ones we all discuss on this board!) will be going into apartments sooner or later, and will need dishes. I don’t think they need a new set of everyday – I vote for giving the kids the old stuff and then when they are ready for ‘housekeeping’ they can go buy new.</p>
<p>We’ve had Dansk since before we were married. The pattern has changed over time ever so slightly, so our stuff doesn’t completely match, but it all looks fine together.</p>
<p>My parents gave me a bunch of their old china when I went out on my own. My girlfriend (now wife) made me give it away.</p>
<p>We started out with a Fiesta Ware-like thing when son was a baby. A few years ago, most of them were gone. I bought a new set fron our local supermarket–sort of yellow and blue Provence-type thing. I love them. They’ll eventually be gone too. This is Archeology.</p>
<p>I have my gmothers china, that I don’t use often and I have Portmerrion, for
2nd best. For everyday I buy a new set every 3 or 4 years. Of course that was before the china from china thing. But anyway, I just give myself permission to get new, it really doesn’t cost that much for a couple of sets from the “big box” stores. The old stuff - give it away to chairity, or sell it in a garage sale. Getting new kitchen dishes is almost like painting the kitchen!</p>
<p>I love Fiestaware, but I own Villeroy & Bosch. It never chips.</p>
<p>I might own Fiestaware if I hadn’t thought the original set my mother had and we grew up with was <em>so-o-o</em> old-fashioned, and encouraged her to “update.”</p>
<p>Never trust a 14-year-old girl to evaluate the taste level of her mother :p.</p>