Small cups? Fiesta Ware

[Janeway]

I received my new/old Fiesta Ware dishes yesterday and started unpacking. There are tons of cups that are a little less than 8 ounce cups. They look like coffee cups, only they are small and have saucers. What would I use this for? I am thinking I should just pack them back up and store them or see if a sibling wants them. I have a feeling I am best off storing them as I am guessing that it will cause a lot of family drama if I give them to a sibling.

[happi duck]

We have those with both our everyday and Christmas dishes.  We use them for coffee or tea.  We only use the saucers when we are "officially" having a pot of tea together.

ETA: I'd store them to keep the set intact

Edited March 19, 2022 by happi duck

[Spryte]

We have a super automatic for espresso drinks, and those are the size we use for  Americanos and cappuccinos. We use them daily, multiple times, and serve to guests as well,

[Bootsie]

From what you describe, I would think they are coffee/tea cups.  Traditionally, coffee cups that came with dinner sets were less than 8oz in size.  In the US, we have become accustomed to large coffee mugs, and those traditional sizes may seem small.  In addition to serving coffee or tea, I like that size of a cup to serve a small dish of ice cream or a cup of broth.

[regentrude]

We use smaller cups (5-6oz) with saucers for coffee. The saucer's purpose is to catch drips and rest the spoon. Standard in any German coffee/breakfast set. 

ETA: fun tidbit: proper etiquette demanded that you pass the cup with saucer to have it refilled, never just the cup by the handle. My grandmother had a story of an accountant who didn't get hired because he was lacking this basic table manner... it became part of the family lore

Edited March 19, 2022 by regentrude

[Emba]

I have Fiesta Ware cups in that size and I use them for my daily coffee or tea. DH likes bigger mugs, so he doesn’t use them.  I don’t use the saucers with the tea cups, but to eat small snacks off of.

[wintermom]

2 hours ago, regentrude said:

We use smaller cups (5-6oz) with saucers for coffee. The saucer's purpose is to catch drips and rest the spoon. Standard in any German coffee/breakfast set. 

ETA: fun tidbit: proper etiquette demanded that you pass the cup with saucer to have it refilled, never just the cup by the handle. My grandmother had a story of an accountant who didn't get hired because he was lacking this basic table manner... it became part of the family lore

I have a set of small cups and saucers I bought in Norway. I also have a set of tiny spoons to go with them. I love the tiny spoons! They are so fun, and they remind me of my time in Norway. 😄

Edited March 19, 2022 by wintermom

[catz]

We have fiesta ware.  We rarely use those tiny cups.  If we get out the espresso machine or occassionally I use them as dessert cups or for after dinner coffee/tea with company maybe.  They are nice for like individual chocolate mousse, etc.  But if you don't have the space, storing isn't a bad plan if you prefer bigger mugs.  

[Carol in Cal.]

Those are just normal coffee cups.   They are out of style now but were typical here in theUS for most of history, until we started to super size everything and switched to increasingly big mugs.

The tiny ones that are used for espresso hold about half that much and are traditionally called demitasse cups.

Both would have their own custom saucers, both to catch drips and to hold the spoon used to stir the coffee additions.  BTW, the sugar spoon, shaped like a shell usually, would be used only to pour sugar into the cup from a distance up, not to stir the sugar.  So you would take your sugar with the shell spoon if it was granular, or sugar tongs if it was cubes, and then stir it with your personal spoon, which would then rest on the saucer so as not to stain the tablecloth.

[Tap]

When I bought Fiesta Ware dishes. I picked pieces individually, instead of buying the box sets specifically because I didn't want a cupboard full of those two items. 🙂 

I have 20+ dinner plates, 10+ luncheon plates, 8 each of 2 styles of bowls (gusto/pasta), 8 of the small shallow bowls (maybe fruit bowls?), and only 6 of the larger mug sized cups.  We only use 1 or 2 cups a day, if even that, so I didn't want to have more than that in the cupboard. One thing I love about Fiesta Ware is being able to buy what I needed/wanted and skip the rest. 

[Quarter Note]

We have these cups, and we use them all the time - but not for drinking!  They are the perfect size for melting butter in the microwave, thawing frozen fruit for a smoothie, putting in just a little bit of leftover something to store in the fridge - all kinds of uses!

The little saucers are great as spoon rests, or as plates for just a slice of toast are piece of fruit.

[Bootsie]

I have a set of Pfaltzgraff dishes and use the cups/saucers quite a bit.  Often I have a coffee mug that I like to drink my morning coffee with (and I drink it black, so don't use a spoon) or a have some glasses that I like to drink my latte in.  But, the coffee cups are just the right size for a cappuccino.  Or, if we are having coffee with a meal or dessert, we will drink out of coffee cups.  

I also find the cups are handy for melting butter (in the microwave, but they can also be placed in a hot oven).  I also use them when separate eggs.  They are wonderful for a slightly beaten egg or to slip eggs into the water when poaching eggs because of the handle.  

[Kareni]

We use our coffee cups to hold things like Goldfish crackers, mixed nuts, a few cookies, or mousse. 

Regards,

Kareni

[importswim]

We use the cups for lots of things like eating a small portion of ice cream, eating fruit or veggies, or even drinking coffee or tea out of them 🤣. I like to use the saucers on our counter by the fridge. We each put our water cup for the day on our color saucer (each family member has a color that is their color so it makes it easy to see who is leaving things around the house). 

[DawnM]

I grew up with this size coffee/tea cups and saucers.   If you watch shows like I Love Lucy era types, you will see they all use smaller cups and saucers for coffee.

Now that I have inherited my mom's dishes, I have a huge stack of this size with saucers.   

It worked when we used to have a percolator full of coffee and fill the creamer container and put it on the table, but since most of us just grab a large coffee at the kitchen counter, we no longer take the time to fill the creamer container, put the coffee on the table for refills, etc....

I have fiesta ware now too and have the 18 ounce mugs.  

[HomeAgain]

Little 6-8oz cups?  We use those for a few things.  They're our go-to when we have gatherings at the house.  It helps stretch a standard 12c pot of coffee enough until we can brew more.  At Christmas they're our eggnog cups.  They get use as dessert cups (mostly pot de creme) for Sunday dinners and holidays.  They also make good tomato soup cups for dipping grilled cheese.

We keep ours on the top shelf of the cupboard but we really shouldn't.  They're always getting used for something.

 

FWIW, my standard coffee cup is 8oz.  It's slim and fits just right in my hand, and I can drink an entire cup before it gets cold. 🙂 It's just a different shape than the ones that came as part of our dish set.  Those are wider and shorter, so definitely not good for me to carry around all morning.

[math teacher]

This makes me want to buy Fiesta Ware. I don't have any of these little cups!!

I do have some demitasse Fire King cups that belonged to my grandmother. My grandfather built furniture, and he made her a heart shaped cup holder out of cherry wood. I vaguely remember going to the grocery store with her, and she would purchase one little cup at a time. When I was a teenager, my grandfather was very ill in a hospital bed set up in the living room. I said to my step grandmother that someday I would like to have the cups and cup holder (It was still on top of the refrigerator in their home.) My grandfather overheard me and called me to him and asked if I wanted it. I said yes, and he said, "Take it home with you." It lived in my bedroom closet for many years, and has moved with me multiple times-only one cup has a broken handle. It is one of my most prized possessions.

[KungFuPanda]

I have small cups that came with a tea set.  I sometimes use them for green teas as intended, but more often I use them to measure ingredients for cooking or for dips or sauces.

[Clarita]

They are for tea and coffee. I use the saucers a lot to hold tea bags after steeping and also for small desserts or when you just need a small dish. The cups are less used because I like a big mug of tea not some dainty thing. The cups make for really cute dip and snack holders.