Have a Safe and Happy New Year's Eve!

HLCCA reminds you to

dish responsibly tonight!

ACC/NAC Update, Volume 7, Number 6

The latest update from the Association of Collecting Clubs/National Association of Collectors (ACC/NAC) is now available on-line. Check it out!

Merry Christmas!

HLCCA wishes you a

very Merry Christmas!

(Photo credit: HLCCA website,
The Dish, Vol. 3, No. 2)

It's Winter (officially)...

Stay warm!

Seeking Your Photos for New Year's Blog Post

The holidays are always a fun time to get your dishes out to "play." We'd like to capitilize on this and are seeking your photos for a New Year's Day post. Let your imagination run free with tablescapes, floral arrangements or other flights of Fiesta (or other HLC ware) fancy that say "Happy New Year!" to you.

Please e-mail your photos to blog@hlcca.org by Wednesday, December 30th. Be sure to include your name with the photo so that we can give you the credit that you will so richly deserve!

HLC Videos on YouTube

We've added a link to HLC-related videos on YouTube in the left-hand sidebar of the blog. Check them out!

(PS - You may need to refresh the page to get them to load)

Red-Stripe Fiesta Mugs Now In Stock!

A small number of HLCCA's exclusive Red-Stripe Fiesta Tom-and-Jerry mugs are available now on the HLCCA website. Be sure to order yours soon--but rest assured that more are on order!

And the winner (?) is....

The consensus of our recent blog-visitors' poll regarding the next color to be retired is that CINNABAR is the most likely candidate (EVERGREEN was a close second). After White, Black, Cobalt (a perennial best-seller) and Turquoise, Cinnabar is the next "oldest" color currently in production.

(Photo credit: HLC website)

More Red-Stripe Fiesta is Coming!!!

If you've seen the inserts in the Winter 2009 issue of The Dish, you'll know that more Retro Red-Stripe Fiesta is on its way. Not only will 10-inch plates and Tom-&-Jerry mugs be back in stock, but HLCCA will also be proudly offering large Fiesta disk pitchers (in a limited production of 200 pieces) and tumblers (individually or in sets of 4) in the red-stripe decal. Availability is expected in early 2010. Be sure to get your order forms in the mail soon!

(Photo credit: David Schaefer)

ACC/NAC Update, Volume 7, Number 5

The latest update from the Association of Collecting Clubs/National Association of Collectors (ACC/NAC) is now available on-line. Check it out!

HLCCA 1941 Exclusive Juice Pitcher Available December 5th

The 1941 HLCCA Exclusive Juice Pitcher "Urban Jazz Culture" on LEMONGRASS will be available for sale on the HLCCA website on December 5th. Only 300 of these pitchers will be produced--be sure to order yours! You may also order by mail with the order form included in the Winter 2009 issue of The Dish.

The handsome design of this year's pitcher is the work of The Dish editor David Schaefer and Judi Noble and the talented staff of the HLC Art Department.

HLCCA Wishes You a Happy Thanksgiving

Be sure to enjoy food, fun--and playing with your dishes--with your friends and family this Thanksgiving. But remember--no vintage in the dishwasher!

(Photo credit: HLCCA website,

The Dish, Vol. 11, No. 2)

Travel safely this week....

Be patient, keep a sense of humor and bring an extra bag for your new dishes!!

HLCCA Salutes Veterans' Day

HLCCA reminds you to acknowledge

the brave men and women who have

served our country and protected our freedom,

past and present.

(Photo credit: HLC website)

Remember to "Fall" Back Tonight...

...and spend the extra hour of sleep dreaming about that elusive final piece of your collection!

Happy Hallowe'en!!

Make sure all your little

ghosts, ghouls and goblins

are safe tonight!

(Photo credit: HLC Factory Direct website)

Speaking of limited quantities...

Supplies of our exclusive embossed ornaments are dwindling rapidly. As of this post, only 10 EVERGREEN ornaments remain in stock. Be sure to order yours (also available in SCARLET and TANGERINE) on the HLCCA website.

UPDATE 11/3/09, 4:35 PM PST: HLCCA's on-line store has been re-stocked with ornaments, but make sure to place your order in time for the holidays!

HLC Outlet Tent Sale this Weekend

In conjunction with the Tent Sale, the HLC Outlet is having a Food Drive for several local Food Banks. If you're attending, please bring a non-perishable food item with you to the sale to help these food banks. The Outlet will also accept cash donations if you would like to help purchase more food for these local food banks. The HLC Outlet appreciates all you can do to help the needy.

As a fund raiser for THE AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY, the Outlet will also be selling a chance to be the first shopper into the tent each day of the sale. The winner will have 10 minutes to shop before others are allowed into the tent. Only one winner per day, but tickets are good for all 3 days of the sale. The drawing will be at 7:00AM, with tickets going on sale at 6:30 AM each day of the sale. You may purchase your ticket in advance by calling (800) 452-4462, Option 1. Ticket price is $5.00 and all proceeds go to THE AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY.

(Photo credit: HLC Facebook page)

It's Columbus Day

Enjoy your day off (if you get one)!

New "Fall Fantasy" at HLC Outlet

Just in time for fall, the HLC Outlet presents its new Fall Fantasy pattern. Check it out on the HLC Factory Outlet website.

(Photo credit: HLC website)

Fewer than 20 Red Stripe Mugs in Stock

There are fewer than 20 mugs left in the HLCCA store. Be sure to get yours! We're also re-ordering dinner plates and will have them back in stock soon.

UPDATE 10/8/09, 5:15 PM PDT: Only 10 mugs left in stock.

UPDATE 10/10/09, 5:06 PM PDT: Mugs are sold out!

ACC/NAC Update, Volume 7, Number 4

The latest update from the Association of Collecting Clubs/National Association of Collectors (ACC/NAC) is now available on-line. Check it out!

It's October....

...Break out the

Happy Pumpkins!!!!

Red Stripe Now In Stock at HLCCA On-Line Store

For those of you who missed this year's conference--or who just can't get enough of the fabulous new Retro Red Stripe Fiesta--10-inch dinner plates (individual or sets of 4) and Tom & Jerry mugs are now available in limited quantities on the HLCCA website. Be sure to stock up for the holidays!

UPDATE 9/25/09, 7:55 AM PDT: Wow! With the overwhelming response, the plates sold out almost immediately. We're ordering more. Mugs are still available.

UPDATE 9/26/09, 9:42 AM PDT: Fewer than 30 mugs remain available.

We know it isn't even October yet, but...

...the HLC Factory Outlet has Fiesta Christmas Tree on sale for 10% off for a limited time only.

(Photo credit: HLC website)

It's Autumn!!

BeyondMexicana.com

Check out HLCCA member Melicety Deatherage's site, BeyondMexicana.com, for everything you'd ever want to know about HLC's and other Ohio River potteries' Mexican- and Southwest-themed decaled wares.

HLCCA Honors Patriot Day

HLCCA encourages you to remember the sacrifice of all those who we lost 8 years ago today.

HLCCA Salutes Labor Day

Enjoy the unofficial end of summer!

Update on the Cinda Gambill Memorial Scholarship for "Dollars for Scholars"

Dollars for Scholars' Catherine Vodrey has advised us that she has received $800 in donations in memory of Cinda Gambill from members of the HLCCA. She also wanted us to know that if Dollars for Scholars gets another $200--for a total of $1,000--the scholarship will then be perpetual and will be awarded in Cinda's memory every year in perpetuity, even if no further donations ever come in. To donate to this worthy cause, here is the contact information:

Catherine S. Vodrey, Vice-President
Tri-State Area Citizens' Scholarship Foundation Dollars for Scholars
P. O. Box 458
East Liverpool, Ohio 43920
DollarsForScholars@comcast.net
330-385-3400

HLC Factory Outlet October Tent Sale Dates Announced

The next Tent Sale will be held on October 15-17, 2009. Click here for more details--and don't forget your dish-wiping sock!!

The Pottery Papers Blog

Way back in '01 at this blogger's first HLCCA Conference, Candy Fagerlin presented a seminar entitled The Pottery Papers, highlighting HLC wares and ephemera. As a souvenir of that seminar, Candy distributed customized Fiesta bread-and-butter plates in the then-new color SUNFLOWER.

Now, you can view much of Candy's presentation on The Pottery Papers blog. Check it out!

Cinda Gambill Memorial Fund for "Dollars for Scholars"

Today, HLCCA received a contribution from the “Hat Ladies and Friends of Cinda Gambill” designated for the “Cinda Gambill Memorial Fund”. Since Cinda was a strong supporter of higher education, the memorial funds will be given to Dollars for Scholars, a program that benefits the children of HLC employees through their local school districts. HLCCA has made annual contributions to Dollars for Scholars for many years.

If you would like to contribute to the “Cinda Gambill Memorial Fund,” you may either send your contribution in care of Sandra Bond, HLCCA President, PO Box 721, North Platte, NE 69103, or directly to Dollars for Scholars (to the attention of Catherine Vodrey), PO Box 458, East Liverpool, Ohio 43920. In either case, checks should be made payable to Dollars for Scholars and designated for the “Cinda Gambill Memorial Fund”.

Thank you for your generous support in remembrance of a beloved founding member of HLCCA.

200 Votes in on HLCCA Conference 2012 Location

Kansas City and Seattle are neck-and-neck, and the polls will be open for only another month. Be sure to let us know your preference for the location of HLCCA's "away" conference in 2012.

UPDATE 8/26/09: We're not pointing any fingers, but we suspect that there may be a little ballot-box stuffing going on with the blog poll. Apparently, it is possible to vote several times. Therefore, we'll also be distributing a mail-in ballot for the 2012 Conference location in a future edition of The Dish. Thanks!

Room Sales at the Annual HLCCA Conference

We had a question from a blog reader the other day about "room sales" at the annual HLCCA Conference. If you attended the Annual Business Meeting on Sunday morning in Pittsburgh this year, you'll recall that this matter came up when an HLCCA member announced that he had conducted a room sale in his suite on Saturday during the Show and Sale.

The HLCCA Board's position on this matter is that we do not encourage, condone or sanction room sales at the annual HLCCA Conference. The Board expends a great deal of effort each year to make sure that the greatest possible variety of dealers can have booths at the Show and Sale. The (nominal) fee charged to dealers covers the cost of table rentals, which the HLCCA must incur. For individual HLCCA members who have items to sell, HLCCA offers a consignment table. HLCCA benefits from these consigned items by collecting a small percentage of the sale price of each item.

The HLCCA Board believes that room sales pose unfair competition for dealers at the Show and Sale, and that they deprive HLCCA of an important source of revenue. The Board also believes that the majority of conference attendees value the Show and Sale as one of the "centerpieces" of each year's conference. This being said, however, the Board has no desire to become the "Room Sale Police." We do not have the time and resources to try to regulate what individual HLCCA members may choose to do in their own hotel rooms. We simply trust that members will use their own best judgement and sense of fairness in how they choose to conduct themselves at the annual conference.

HLCCA Conference 2009 Photos on Facebook

We've (finally) uploaded our photos to the HLCCA Facebook page. Check 'em out!

HLCCA Exclusive Embossed Ornaments

We are now selling the teapot-embossed Fiesta ornaments that we introduced at HLCCA Conference 2009. They are available in 3 colors: Scarlet, Tangerine and Evergreen. Each is marked with the HLCCA exclusive backstamp in gold.

These beatiful ornaments are priced at $22 for HLCCA members and $40 for non-members. Please go to our online sale for purchase.

Poll for 2012 HLCCA Conference Location

At yesterday's business meeting, the top 2 locations for the 2012 HLCCA Conference were Seattle and Kansas City (in that order). For those of you who plan to attend in 2012 and were not at this year's conference, we've added a poll for the 4 "contender" locations: Atlanta, Kansas City, San Antonio and Seattle. The polls will be open until at least mid-September 2009.

Help us to to select the conference location that you would most like to visit!

So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Goodbye!

After our annual HLCCA Business Meeting and farewell breakfast on Sunday morning, HLCCA Conference attendees made their (tearful) goodbyes to one another and headed home with their new treasures!

See y'all next year in Nashville, TN on July 15-18, 2010!!

What's Red & White...

...& striped all over? This year's conference exclusive giveaway pieces were a 10" dinner plate, tea cup and saucer in Ivory with Scarlet stripes. The table centerpieces featured a 10" vase and a Tom & Jerry mug in the same red-stripe pattern.

All of these pieces were inspired by HLC's vintage red stripe wares--and more will be available soon on the HLCCA website.

Scarlet Presents "The History of Red Stripe"

Richard Mayberry's alter ego, Scarlet (or is it the way around?) presented an entertaining and informative history of red stripe wares at tonight's banquet. All of this was a prelude to the announcement of this year's Conference exclusive giveaway: a 3-piece Fiesta placesetting in Ivory with an HLCCA-exclusive red stripe decal!

1941 HLCCA Fiesta Juice Pitcher Revealed!!!

At tonight's banquet, the HLCCA Board revealed the lastest in the 1940s series of exclusive Fiesta juice pitchers. This year's pitcher celebrates the year 1941 with Urban Jazz Culture on Lemongrass.

The new HLCCA pitcher is expected to available for sale to HLCCA members in time for holiday gift-giving.

Please, no drooling on the wares.

The annual Show & Sale provided yet another opportunity to shop 'til you drop. We hope that you picked up some bargains on must-haves from your wish list!

Friday Night Auction Highlights

Once again, Sid & Maryann Cannon did an excellent job of compiling a great selection of pieces for the Friday night auction.