Long before Fiesta became one of America’s most recognizable dinnerware brands, it was simply an ambitious idea from a pottery company determined to brighten the nation’s tables. The story begins in 1871, when brothers Homer and Shakespeare Laughlin established a pottery in East Liverpool, Ohio, a city that would become known as the “Pottery Capital of the World.” As demand grew, the company crossed the Ohio River into what would become Newell, West Virginia. In 1902, company leaders purchased farmland there, laid out streets, installed utilities, built a suspension bridge and trolley connection, and transformed the site into a purpose-built company town centered around pottery production. By 1906, the new Plant No. 4 was considered the largest pottery factory in the world, capable of producing roughly 300,000 pieces of ware each day. The company’s most iconic creation arrived in 1936. Designed by English-born ceramic artist Frederick Hurten Rhead, Fiesta combined streamlined Art Deco forms with bold, solid colors that stood apart from the floral china patterns then filling American cupboards. Introduced at the Pittsburgh China & Glass Show, the collection became an immediate success, with more than one million pieces produced by its second year. Over the decades, colors have come and gone, but the concentric rings and mix-and-match philosophy have remained unmistakably Fiesta. Today, visitors can browse the Fiesta Tableware Retail Outlet beside the factory where the pottery is still made. Shelves overflow with every imaginable color, while bargain hunters dig through bins of “seconds,” pieces with tiny cosmetic imperfections that are often difficult to spot. Unlike many iconic American brands that long ago moved production overseas, Fiesta dinnerware continues to be manufactured in Newell, making this one of the few places where visitors can purchase the company’s signature pottery directly from its source.