Vintage China Moment- Homer Laughlin Ming Pattern

Lifetime China Company

Vintage China is a passion for those of us at Birdie in a Barn. We love it. We believe that every pattern is unique and different and beautiful in it’s own way. One of the very first things we started collecting in the Barn was vintage china from where ever we could find it. Consequently we now have oodles and oodles of vintage china to share. One of our collections we would like to introduce is from the Lifetime China Company based out of Alliance, Ohio. The Lifetime China Company was actually a distributor of dinnerware not a manufacturer. They distributed products and were popular from 1953 through 1968. Most of the china they distributed was from the Homer Laughlin China Company.

Homer Laughlin China Company

Homer Laughlin China Company was a small china company established in East Liverpool, Ohio, in the 1870’s. Two brothers, Homer and Shakespeare Laughlin started one of the first whiteware plants in the United States. The company was eventually sold and moved to West Virginia, and is still in operation today as the HCL Inc. You probably would recognize the Homer Laughlin company by their most famous dinnerware, the Fiesta line. The Fiesta line was introduced in 1936 and was known for it’s brightly colored dishes. You can still buy Fiesta dinnerware all over the place and it is still the rage. Although vintage Fiesta Ware has to be purchased from places like Etsy, Ebay, or if you are lucky, from a thrift store or antique shop, the current line can be found at places like Macys, Kohls, Bed Bath and Beyond, etc.

Vintage China Patten- Ming

Most of the time if you are looking to identify the vintage china pattern, you simply need to look at the back of one of the plates. Most Lifetime China has the name included in the back stamp. The Ming pattern of vintage china has a pretty pink flower in the middle of each plate and somewhere on the other corresponding pieces. Birdie in a Barn has a full 8 piece place setting of this vintage china available to rent, including many of the serving pieces and the teapot too. What a great set to use for a sweetheart table, or head table, at your wedding reception. Or mix and match it with other pink china patterns.

Vintage China Rentals

Just as a side note…did you notice the cute pink flower salt and pepper shakers that go with the china?

And for any bride looking for a great florist, Bleudog Floral is your company. They provided the flowers for this shoot. Photography done also by Bleudog Fotography.