When Jim Moloney restored his 1924 beach cottage on Balboa Peninsula in Newport Beach, Calif., he kept as many of the original materials and architectural details as possible.

The kitchen cabinets were custom-made to match the original design. Staying true to the time period, he purchased old black knobs for the white wood cabinets and old, wavy glass to create an antique appearance on select cabinet doors.

Behind the glass, the cabinet shelves and hooks were filled with colorful Fiesta, a collection of Art Deco-style dinnerware, made by the Homer Laughlin China Co. Its signature design, a sculpted band of rings near the rim, gives the appearance of having been handcrafted on a pottery wheel. A variety of bright, solid colors make the collection easy to recognize.

Moloney chose Fiesta because the pieces seem to fit his vintage kitchen and he appreciates its history.

Moloney's Fiesta collection contains a mix of vintage and new pieces. He prefers to use the new pieces for daily use and keep the old as decor. Part of his reasoning is in the value of the original pieces. Collectors pay several hundred dollars to more than $2,000 for the more popular vintage pieces. So keeping them in good condition makes sense.

And, like most dishes made before 1972, all vintage Fiesta contains lead and other heavy metals. For this reason, many collectors choose not to use their antique tableware every day. How much of the lead can leach into food while using the dishes remains in question. However, it is generally advised not to heat vintage tableware in the microwave or place acidic foods on them, which can increase the lead leaching.

Fiesta, made of semiporcelain, also contains trace amounts of uranium in the glaze. The original red contains the highest level of uranium, making it useful for high school science experiments and demonstrations on radioactivity for visitors at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station.

Despite this, Fiesta is one of the most collected lines of dinnerware in the United States.

"Vintage Fiesta is very collectible," says Dennie Chaya, owner of the Lake Forest Antique Mall in Lake Forest, Calif.