In the 1890s, Anne Banning and Ada Laughlin were high-society friends in Los Angeles. Banning was married to Hancock Banning, son of Los Angeles businessman Phineas Banning, known as The Father of the Port of Los Angeles. Laughlin met and married Homer Laughlin Jr. at Stanford University. He was the son of the founder of the Homer Laughlin China Company, which later created America’s favorite dinnerware, FIESTA.