Getting to Know Fire King, Dinner & Serve Ware
Fire-King was originally produced in the 1940s for everyday use, rather than display. It was often sold in bags of flour as a promotional item or was given away at gas stations. Fire-King could also be purchased at local grocery and hardware stores. Several varieties of Fire King dishes were made; nesting bowls, dessert bowls, glass beverage containers, casserole dishes, mugs and more. The vintage nesting bowls, produced by the Anchor Hocking Company, are one of the most sought after collectible dishes of this type.
Fire-King solid glass colors come in rose-ite (creamy pink), turquoise blue, azur-ite (light pale blue), white, and ivory. It can also be a fired-on coating over crystal in shades of pastel green, pastel blue, pastel peach, pastel yellow, primary orange, primary blue, primary yellow and primary green. These fired on colors are part of the pattern Rainbow. Rainbow is not technically Fire-King, but included in the same category with most collector books. There is also a fired on Lustre color finish that comes in several patterns and a few colors, grey, white and the most popular Peach.
My Personal Fire King Everyday Dinner Ware Collection
I prefer the Jade-ite, mostly mid-century for everyday use. There are some pre-war McKee & Jeannette pieces pictured, they’re primarily for display.
Gotta love the Tulip bowls!
More Reading…
Fire King by Anchor Hocking – A Beginners Guide to Collecting by Vintage Virtue