Celebrating 250 Years with Vintage Liberty Blue Dinnerware
Good Morning my friends…I cannot believe we are well into the month of June and we will soon be celebrating America’s 250th year! I have been planning a special vignette/table setting and I will post it closer to the 4th of July. It will be something completely different from my usual table scapes so I hope you check back with me.
Meantime, I want to show you the first of several Patriotic tables I will be posting because I believe this milestone 250th celebration deserves a little more than the usual. Don’t ya think? I do! Hooray for the red, white and blue! ❤️🤍💙🇺🇸 The Captain has hung all the bunting on the outside of our home and hung the little garden flags on the small black “L” shaped holders that depict our 250th anniversary and we are now ready to celebrate. So let’s get started.
This tablescape features the blue and white of my one of my very favorite dishes.
OK, you have me on that one, all my dishes are my favorites! I guess it is like your children when one says “I love ’em all…..I don’t have a favorite.” However, these blue and white dishes are made in the Staffordshire district….in England, much like the Blue Willow dinnerware, and I really do love them as they have a history! And yes, you know that I’m going to share that with you.🥺🤗
The distinction of this dinnerware is they were actually designed on behalf of the Benjamin Franklin Federal Savings and Loan which was based out of Portland, Oregon from 1925 to 1990. The dinnerware, made in 1975, was for promotional purposes. It didn’t hurt that it coincided with America’s Bicentennial in 1976. One of my dear blogger friends, Pam from Everyday Living, just asked the question…do you remember the big 4th of July Bicentennial celebration of 1976? I had to confess that nothing in particular stood out to me, 🥴 but I am still checking my memory banks on that one. Do any of you remember that milestone celebration?
Let’s continue…The Blue Liberty dinnerware consisted of 15 historic scenes from the colonial times and were depicted on the face of the plates. At our last blog hop, Cecilia from My Thriftstore Addiction, featured her Blue Liberty dishes with Independence Hall in the center.
My set also features Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were debated and signed. I placed the dinnerware on a white plate which sat on a blue and white charger and to add a bit of interest, I then placed the charger on yet another charger of red, white and blue. Yep, lots of chargers going on here.
The navy blue napkins have stars in a Wedgewood blue which accents the navy blue background. I chose navy blue flatware with silver knobs on the ends because I felt they looked like cannon balls. 🥰🥴. I also chose a red star shaped appetizer plate that is by Temptations. The dark navy & light navy napkins with white stripe and stars, I have had for so many years and I don’t know where I got them. I love to use them on my Patriotic tables as can be seen here on my Patriotic Picnic in the yard Tablescape, which actually didn’t happen but you have to go there and read all about it if you want the details.🥴🥴🥴
The blue stemmed glasses were from the dollar store years ago. I loved when one could buy all colors of dollar tree stemware. I have red, amber, black, and green. I am not sure they do that anymore. Does anyone know?
Sorry I digress, …back to the table, I used a navy and white tablecloth and sprinkled small confetti flags and stars around the table. I also found red, white and blue paper fans that I thought added to the table and make for great party favors. I like to give guests something to take home. AND the child in me loves the little whirly-gigs, so one had to go in a blue and white striped ironstone pitcher along with red, white and blue carnations and a couple American flags. I used this for the centerpiece.
I have a multitude of sizes of American flags. Currently, many are placed all around the inside of our home, stuck in various vases, pitchers and other containers.
Celebration of the 4th in years past:
I love the 4th of July, and as a child loved to set off fireworks all day long using a punk. I loved the pop! pop! pop! And the nightworks were amazing because we not only shot off our own Roman Candles, Fountains, etc…we also watched the bigger fireworks show from the city. You see we lived on a farm and the displays were easily seen from our farm home. Of course we always had plenty of food; hand cranked home made ice cream and chocolate sheet cake… and my Mother’s fried chicken, (she would fry about 6-8 chickens that we raised) my Grandma made potato salad and macaroni salad, and my Aunt would make her delicious baked beans. Someone would always bring a several dark green round watermelons nestled in a galvanized tub of ice…with a salt shaker near by. All family members were invited and several friends too. So that meant there was plenty of food. I miss those grand picnics where family all gathered and celebrated our country’s birthday. However, I do not miss all the noise of the pop! pop! pop! This year we will still have a picnic, with many of the same foods, though a much smaller group.
I have to admit that now, our celebration does not include loud pops, etc, AND we can still see a giant display from our front garden courtyard ….But one thing never changes …we are always Patriotic! Almost all our family come from Military backgrounds, My twins were Navy like their father, my dad was Army, my Uncles were Marines and Navy and of course the Captain was Navy too. God Bless America!
Galatians 5:13 “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”
I love a quote from Ronald Reagan, our 40th President!
“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.”
~Ronald Reagan
The above photo is of our little Jesse James (5 pounds) who did not like all the loud noises of fireworks….just as he did not like thunder. However, he was Patriotic! He did sport a red, white and blue scarf to honor the 4th. We miss him so much, he crossed over the Rainbow Bridge last year.
Will you have a big celebration this 4th of July Holiday?
Blessings Always! And thank you for reading ‘Celebrating 250 Years with Vintage Liberty Blue Dinnerware’…please add a comment as I love hearing from you AND I always answer each one. Oh, perhaps I should say I almost always read each one…who knows? I may have missed one sometime in the last 15 or so years!🥺
Galatians 5:1: “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery”.
Kari, your patriotic table is such a beautiful tribute to America’s 250th birthday! 🇺🇸 I have a soft spot for Liberty Blue, so I thoroughly enjoyed seeing your vintage pieces showcased so beautifully. They are perfect for commemorating this milestone anniversary, and you always have a knack for adding just the right festive touches to make a table feel special and welcoming. I know this celebration must feel a little bittersweet as you continue to miss your sweet Jesse James. 🐾 They leave such pawprints on our hearts, and I hope happy memories of him bring you comfort. Wishing you a joyful summer and a wonderful Fourth of July celebration. ❤️🤍💙
I love your beautiful patriotic theme, Kari. Oh, those Liberty Blue dishes are so perfect! What a treasure they are for our country’s 250th celebration. The memories of your childhood 4th of July picnics were so special. Thank you for sharing this pretty table with us. ❤️🇺🇸💙
This year marks a special 4th of July for our country and I am so patriotic that I want to celebrate all year long…well, at least the last half of the year. But then, I am always ready for a celebration as long as it is a quiet and intimate one. These days, I don’t care for the big celebrations with wall to wall people, pushing and shoving, etc, but I do enjoy simpler affairs or watching it on TV. It is like the much used and sometimes trite expression…”Been There, Done That, Got the T-Shirt”…and in most cases, I don’t feel the need to do it all over again. LOL. Thanks for stopping by my friend and I hope you are staying cool. It is supposed to get up to 92 today here in Florida…sounds like pool time to me. 🥰🇺🇸❤️🤍💙🇺🇸
You have a new email from a contact in your audience, “Blogging”.
Laura DeFarkas wrote:
Hi Kari, It is always so wonderful to see you, your beautiful table decorations and read your stories! I miss seeing you in person though… I knew your 4th of July table would be spectacular and you didn’t disappoint! Thank you, Love and miss you ! Laura Laura DeFarkas
Hi Laura…you are too kind…I miss you too and boy did we have some good (and sometimes onery) times at the TWA/American base hub. I was so glad our offices were next door to each other when we first met. Can you believe we were there for so many years? I know your girls are all grown up and have families of their own but in my mind they will still be those beautiful little girls of Laura’s. I do have a question for you…I have been following you in your real estate business (congratulations by the way)and I would like to know how you still look the same, beautiful as ever and you always spent so much time at the pool.🤗 I’m jealous! 🥰 Hugs my friend and lets always keep in touch.
Oh, Kari, your new picture is lovely. I like your hair too, although I always liked your red hair, but hey we all change.
I liked it red too Sandy…I was born a redhead tho not a pretty red, (I had to color it to a shade I could live with) but after chemo and radiation, I lost all my hair and it came in silver. I wrote a blog post about my decision to let my hair age as I was aging. LOL and you can click on the following link if you missed it. The title of that post is: “Going Gray and how I did it”. It was July of 2025, so I have been silver for a year now and I have never regretted it….https://meandmycaptain.com/2025/07/going-gray-and-how-i-did-it/
This is a very festive and patriotic table that you have set. The Liberty Blue dinner plates are the perfect choice of dishware for your table, and to think that they were a promotional giveaway at one time.
My memories besides a big local parade from 1976 are of the bicentennial quarter, the bicentennial license plate, and Pennsylvania had a Trail of History passport book. The book was to promote tourism and history of the state. So our family had fun as we traveled around from site to site getting our passport book stamped. This was not in the passport book, but our church graveyard is the burial site of James Smith, signer of the Declaration of Independence.
Janet, how interesting and fun was your passport book. Clever way to celebrate such a milestone and promote tourism. Sweet memories for sure. One of my friends from Hawaii just texted me that her mother banked at the Savings and loan and loved the pattern so much she bought all the pieces for a service for 8 or 12. The dishes are still in the family even though the dinnerware has moved from family member to family member….state to state. I would like to visit your church and the cemetery to see such an historic burial site. Thanks for your information on these humble dishes. Have a wonderful summer and enjoy our country’s celebration in July.🇺🇸❤️🤍💙
Kari, I love the photo of you, just beautiful! I also love this patriotic table. Like Rita said, I am all in on patriotic tables for America’s 250th birthday!! The Liberty Blue plates are appropriate anytime, but especially this year. I love every detail of your fabulous tablescape. I would love to visit your dish pantry 🇺🇸❤️🤍💙🇺🇸 Thanks for the shout-out my friend!
You are welcome my sweet friend, I get all teary eyes thinking about our country especially when we sing about her. I don’t understand how so many of her citizens don’t realize just how great she is. There was a C&W song by Waylon Jennings called “The Eagle” and the lyrics still give me chills to this day when I hear it. God Bless America. 🇺🇸❤️🤍💙🙏🏻
Oh, Kari, I love your red, white and blue table. I’m very patriotic. I love our country and I hope the people moving to Missouri and Kansas from other states don’t try to change our states. I remember when I was a child in Eudora walking in a parade for our 100th year (I believe that’s correct) and wearing our homemade outfits along beside the covered wagons. We were so proud of our country. I think that was in the fifties and I was around ten or twelve. Maybe younger since my mind isn’t so good anymore.
Kari, I like your new picture. You look so pretty. Is it a new one or an old one?
Hugs,
Sandy
Hi Sandy…that pic was taken last week by the Captain. A few weeks ago, one of my friends (her name is Sandy too) said my pic on my blog did not look like me because I was not smiling. I actually took the unsmiling pic while in my car last November,… I was on my way to or from a doctor’ appointment…and I just snapped it on my Iphone…I guess I was not smiling thinking about the appointment. Ha! Ha! The reason I took THAT pic was because my hair was silver now and as you know it was red before. So last Friday, the 5th of June, 2026, I was getting ready for Bible Study and the Captain took my picture. When I looked at it, I said “look! I AM smiling”! And he said “you ought to use that photo on your blog so Sandy will see you are smiling”. So after Bible Study, I replaced the unsmiling Kari with the smiling Kari. LOL Of course I could pick the photo apart because I am not photogenic. But it is what it is, and there are no filters, just me. Happy 4th of July, even tho we are celebrating early. hugs always
This is a beautiful table, Kari. I love the dishes — these are really especially fun. I hear you on running out of places for dishes. When I move into Rick’s in a few years, space will be very limited compared to a full storage basement. I’m already trying to think about what wasted space I have already in my upstairs so I won’t have to rehome too much!
I love the history you share too, both related to the china and your personal childhood history. (And Jesse James — poor fireworks! LIzzie is the same — she hides in the linen closet!). We’ll be at the lake and who knows what we’ll do then! But the fireworks go right across the lake from our cottage so we can count on that and the annual boat parade!
You and Rick will have a grand ole’ time at the lake. Whoppee! I do miss all those big family celebrations but we have all spread out all over this wonderful country and it is harder to get together. Back in my childhood days…people stayed fairly close together. I am always saying “Times are changing”. The Captain and I will have a few people over who don’t have family close by…and we will have a great time. I wish I had will power when it comes to unique dishes…cause then I have to find room to store it.🥴. Have a wonderful week dear friend.🇺🇸❤️🤍💙
I am all in with the patriotic theme this year, Kari, and this tablescape checks all the things! Very nicely done!
Thanks Rita…God Bless America and we should show our love for our country all the time.hugs my friend.
Kari, I love your patriotic Liberty Blue table–the red, white, and blue is a festive celebration for our country’s 250th! Thanks for the shout-out!
You are most welcome Cecilia…I have found that dishes like these Blue Liberty always have a history and it makes them more of a treasure to us who collect. The only problem with that is I am running out of space for all my treasures. 🥰. Thanks for stopping by and have great summer.