Saturday, May 25, 2013

About Town With Corningware - Cherries, Peaches and Grapes.... Oh My!

Found at several stores...  Value Village, Good Will, Salvation Army and Chase Me Again......

Fruit Basket...  (1997-1998) a new enough pattern that it is probably still being actively used by the original owners, so it tends to be a little hard to find in certain geographical areas.  The French White version is harder to find.

Fruit Basket is a "multi-pattern", just like Quilt; meaning there is a different designs within the pattern and those different designs appear on different saucepans/casseroles.

1 1/2 Quart
(A-1 1/2-B)


5 Quart
(A-5-B)


1 Quart
(A-1-B)

The cherry print was also found on the P-43 (20 oz petite dish) and the A-3-B (3 quart saucepan)

Then there was the "pièce de résistance"... With Cherries, Grapes AND Peaches....  :)

2 Quart 
(A-2-B)


This multi-fruit pattern was also printed on the A-21-B-N Open Roaster.

This same multi-fruit pattern was also used to adorn French White pieces and complimented with Pyrex "Spring Green" lids...  Known pieces to date are the F-2 (2 1/2 qt Casserole)

 The F-5 (1.5 quart souffle)
as well as the F-1 (2.5 quart Souffle)

Where is your Corningware??
~~

5 comments:

  1. found 2 cups with the cherries and peaches on them.

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  2. It's a very interesting pattern as the execution of the fruit is a little less studied and a little more abstract. I'm fascinated by pyroceram and the history of it and how the Corning company came to make the decision to sell off an American icon to a company who didn't seem to develop it further for a new generation. You can check the home shopping channels for the "European-esque" stoneware that people are snapping up like it's the greatest thing since pyroceram (they have no clue what pyroceram even is, I'm sure). Imagine if Corning had chosen to take pyroceram that way with all of it's additional benefits? It's kind of sad that "Fruit Basket" represents the end of a U.S. made iconic cookware line with "Cornflower" roughly at one end and this roughly at the other. Just like we sometimes don't respect old buildings, we sometimes don't respect the heritage of what we create...and just knock it down in relatively little time. I also have a question: Where I see this online, I see large and small knobs on the lids. It seems that the larger-knobbed lids would be the correct match for these and the smaller-knobbed would be replacements often being sold as the original lids to this set? I find this embellishment a bit more gender-friendly than the florals. I also nearly have a complete set of "Renaissance" and of course a few of Mom's "Cornflower" that I respect for the link to her and historically but it is not my favorite. As to those who complain about lack of even heating and pyroceram being hard to clean, I say the same thing that I say to those who say you can't fry in olive oil without burnig things...hahahaha...what a laugh. It just requires a gentler and more observant touch as to heat...Give me a break...hahahaha! Thanks for the comment and this great site!

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    Replies
    1. You are correct in your assessment of the lids. These were originally sold with large knob lids... When Borden took over at the end of 1998, they moved back to the small knob lids as replacement part (uses less glass) to save money.. These will be marked A-7-C or A-9-C even though they have the P-series sized knobs.

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  3. Thanks for the response, Shane.
    Not only are you uncovering and preserving Corningware history, but you are becoming a part of it! Great recipes with wonderful step by step illustrations as well...and done better than some TV Chefs!
    THANKS SO MUCH!
    Jerry
    Jerry

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