PYREX

the What, When, Where, How and Who

Pyrex bowls stacked on hardware and department store shelves originally cost less than a dollar apiece. They were the foot soldiers of the post-war kitchen, in an era of flashy gadgetry, of electric skillets and table rotisseries, these loaf pans, double boilers, nesting bowls, and au gratin dishes made of the glass known as PYREX were, well, brazenly low-tech.  Pyrex migrated effortlessly from oven to table, refrigerator to sink, with steaming tuna casserole, cold tapioca pudding, macaroni & cheese, or warm left overs, and it almost never broke. 

When clear Pyrex appeared in 1915, its transparency was a revelation providing a virtual window onto the mysteries of chemistry and colors that transpired as casseroles browned and bubbled, and peas pirouetted in boiling water.  Clear glass could transform a mundane task into high drama! To watch coffee brew in a Pyrex percolator was to witness a pyric eruption all safely contained in a thick glass cylinder.  Even now, the colored mixing bowls and brightly colored leftover boxes that filled kitchen cabinets in the fifties still exude cheerful domesticity. They are even stackable for refrigerator space saving.

Many colors ~ A huge amount of Pyrex was manufactured by Corning Glass Works of Corning, New York. Vintage Pyrex pieces are not a rarity. That is fortunate because more of us are being attracted to the old Pyrex, perhaps because we grew up with it.  Although Pyrex collectors may be nostalgic, the functional Pyrex almost demands to be used.  They are a necessary part of retro kitchen decorating. So many colors were produced that you can add select vintage Pyrex pieces to your modern kitchen or fill cupboards for a 50s or 60s retro look.  Display a few pieces along with a vintage apron & tea towel. Red and white was a popular theme that is easy to collect. You can even find red painted wood handle utensils to display on a wall. 

No Pyrex typifies an era quite like the colored pieces made from a tempered translucent white background opal glass.  It was developed for the armed services as tableware to withstand abuse. The color was sprayed on before the tempering process.  Stripes, snowflakes, daisies and other patterns characteristic of Pyrex from the fifties and sixties were applied by screen printing.

Colored Pyrex was made from the same colds as clear. The original four-piece nesting mixing-bowl set (1 1/2 pint blue, 1 1/2 quart red, 2 1/2 quart green and 4 quart yellow) remains the signature collectible. It was made between 1947 and 1977 and are the ones you see on old I Love Lucy reruns.

Where did it come from? Glass cookware is related to railroad signal lanterns made from Nonex, a durable borosilicate glass impervious to changes in temperature and heat developed by CORNING in 1912.  Buoyed by their success, the Corning chemists reasoned that bakeware could be manufactured from glass. What a lucky leap of thought that was for us!  It's immediate success was due to the great improvement over metal utensils.  Food cooked more quickly in glass and did not stick; food flavors disappeared after washing and the cook had the pleasure of seeing when the food was done.  Print ads of the time assured you would a better cook.  Between 1918 and the mid-forties, a decorative line was available, embellished with delicate wheel-cut engravings of flowers, wreaths, and ferns.  Engraved Pyrex did cost 50% more than the standard version, and demand waned during the Depression.

The jazz-age lines of the twenties include hand-fashioned blown teapots designed in 1922 by an artist from Corning's Stuben glass. Some were round, squat or tall, but were discontinued in 1934 when the main artisan who made them died. An array of chunkier machine-made models, more readily distinguishable as Pyrex followed.

Test for chips and invisible cracks: Run your finger around the edges to feel for minute nicks. Find invisible cracks or chips by holding the piece in the palm of one hand and ping it with a pen or fingernail of the other hand.  If you hear a chime it is not nicked or cracked. If you hear a thud, it has a defect.

Dishwashers faded Pyrex colors all too often. Lemon additives in liquid dishwashing soaps can also fade it.Promotional patterns show up occasionally from this era. They don't seem to cost more than comparable pieces in common patterns.

Cinderella nesting bowls from the late fifties have a lip on two sides, one for gripping, the other for pouring. They took up quite a bit of cupboard space and popularity waned. Because so many Pyrex pieces had a short run time it's fun to find unexpected items. You'll know its Pyrex because pieces were marked with a logo. Collector books can help you discern the age by the backstamps and color. Pyrex Love site has easy to recognize photos of patterns.

Pyrex is still as practical today as yesterday. use it in the oven, the freezer, and the refrigerator. Some pyrex has metallic in the paint of emblems or the color itself and probably shouldn't go in the microwave. Mixing bowls with a clear bottom are microwavable. Hand wash the colored Pyrex to preserve its shine.

Someday I'll find Pyrex like I grew up with ~ Mom's tulip mixing bowls and a red square round salad bowl.

->Some Pyrex & Corning available to purchase.