Fire King China

I was visiting with a cousin yesterday, and I noticed she had a china cabinet full of dishes that took me back to my childhood. Marge had recently inherited a collection of azur-ite (pale blue) fire-king dinnerware.

I had not seen this many of these dishes since I was a kid. Back then Fire-King kitchen ware was everywhere. You found the bakeware, casseroles and dinnerware in almost every home. Heck, even the restaurants were using the Jade-ite (mint green) Fire King because of its durability.

Once Martha Stewart started using the old Jade-ite restaurant ware on her show it caused all of the old Fire King patterns to become collectors items.

Fire-King is now made by Anchor Hocking and is a brand of glassware similar to Pyrex, but less expensive. But, the original Fire-King was produced in the 1940's and 1950's for everyday use, rather than display. It was often sold in bags of flour as a promotional item or given away at gas stations and grocery stores with a purchase. Fire-King was also a staple at Kresge's, Woolworth's and the local hardware store.

As I went to do this post I keyed this china into google, and was amazed to discovered that a singe dinner plate on e-bay was selling for twenty-five dollars. And, to think that we use to carry them home for free with each tank of gas.

I am linking this post to Blue Monday hosted by Smiling Sallie.

To check out all the other participants of Blue Monday click here.