Question:
I recently purchased a large box of Red Wing dishes at a yard sale for $10. Not until I got home had I realized what I had aquired and how collectible they are. They are numbered and labeled Ebb Tide on the bottom and are green with dark brown swirls. However, I am wanting to use these as a functional set of dishes. My question to you is are they dishwasher safe or should they always be hand washed? Thanks! Jennifer

Answer:
To my knowledge the only dinnerware line claimed by Red Wing to be dishwasher safe was Ceramastone, their final line introduced late 1966. Brochures for earlier patterns claimed to be "detergent safe" but did not mention dishwashers. Most likely this is because dishwashers were not commonly found in American households at the time.

Ebb Tide was introduced in 1965, and I expect it will do just fine in a modern dishwasher. To be safe you might want to run a couple of pieces through the dishwasher a few times and inspect them afterwards. Perhaps your box includes a chipped piece or two that could serve as guinea pigs.

Larry