In The Beginning - Corning Ware 1st Generation BPE (Before P# Era - 1958-1959)

So I have been photographing various chunks of my Corning Ware collection over the last couple of months.  This was for a 2 fold reason.   Firstly, I really didn't have anyplace that I could spread it all out and photograph everything all at once and second, well... there is only so much room for a photo on a blog post and I would have to stand back so far to get it all in that you probably would not be able to see much of anything except a bunch of little blue cornflower shaped dots.

Be that as it may, I decided that I was going about this the wrong way.  I should have been organizing my collection by Era and/or generations.  You see, there are several "Generations" of Corning Ware and those generations can be grouped together into Eras.  To make matters even more confusing, some of the patterns within generations can be broken down into "Editions"... Such as the Floral Bouquet pattern.  This is further complicated by the fact that there are separate "series" runs that occur for a short time within a generation that are retired, but then resurface again later...   So lets just start at the beginning...

In the first Era (AKA: Fin Lid Era), which encompasses 1958 - 1961, there were actually 2 generations of Corning Ware.... an embossed bottom generation and a blurry blue ink generation...   but today I am going to concentrate on Generation 1 (numero uno) from 1958 thru 1959.

In the beginning of the beginning there were no P, B, W, N, A, C, S, DC, F, G, U or L model numbers..   You see, Corning was unsure how well their cookware would be received by the American housewife, so they made a limited number of pieces for the initial release in the fall of 1958 to test the waters.....  These would be the 1 quart, 1 1/2 quart and 1 3/4 quart saucepan with fin lids (similar to the Pyrex FlameWare design) along with the 10 inch skillet topped with the infamous pyroceram lid adorn with more cornflowers.  With only 4 pieces, it was pretty easy to keep track of what was what, so no model numbers were really needed at this point. That does not mean that there WEREN'T model numbers.   They existed, but were only found on product order forms, not the dishes themselves.

Corning Ware was such a hot seller that, by Christmas, retailers were screaming for more.  So, in spring of 1959 Corning unveiled 2 additional skillets (9 inch and 7 inch with fin lids), a larger 2 1/2 quart Saucepan and the famed 8 cup & 6 cup pyroceram lipped percolators (which would later be referred to as P-108 and P-106).

All these pieces, percolators aside, have an embossed stamp on the bottom stating either "Corning Ware" with a volume measurement or, in the case of the skillets, width in inches. (7 inch skillet-top, 1 3/4 quart saucepan-bottom)

or simply "Corning Pyroceram" with no other identifying marks.  (bottom of 2 1/2 quart)

There ARE alpha-numeric characters embossed on the pieces as well, as is evident above with the A-19, D 16 and B-34, but these are by no means model numbers... they are glass mold numbers used for quality control purposes.  The model numbers we all know and love would not be applied to pieces until the second Era of Corning Ware in 1962 (3rd Generation) with the the P & W series followed shortly in 1964 by the B-series (and the C-series for Centura coordinated casseroles)

As mentioned before, they existed for ordering purposes, but were not present on dishes or lids.  While the dishes are the same as later, marked pieces, the official fin lid numbers are a little different.   There are only 2 lid sizes and the Pyroceram lid for the 10 inch skillet. 

The 7 inch fin lid is a P-11-C and fits the 1 quart, 1 1/2 quart and 1 3/4 quart saucepans as well as the 7 inch skillet.  The 9 inch fin lid is a P-2 1/2-C  and fits the 2 1/2 quart saucepan and 9 inch skillet.  The pyroceram lid is known as a P-10-C.  The later glass replacement lid was originally released as a P-10-C-1, but after the pyroceram lid was discontinued all together, the model number of the glass lid was changed to P-10-C.


So there you have it....   The 1st Generation of the 1st Era of Corning Ware.

Where is your Corning Ware??
~~

I Got Some Mad Skill...ets - My P-Series Cornflower Collection (Part 2)

Well, last night's dinner was responsible for this collection post.  It was a tour de force in skillet usage. Thus, I decided since I had half of my skillets out on the stove or in the oven already, it would be fitting to make "Skillets" Part 2 of my P-series Cornflower Collection.  And quite the Skillet Stockpile it is...  

Top - P-7-B with P-7-C lid (7 inch) sitting in a P-9-B with P-9-C lid (9 inch) sitting on the P-10-B with P-10-C lid (10 inch) sitting on the P-16-B with P-12-C lid (11 inch). 

I do have 5 other skillets in Cornflower, but they are technically not part of the P-Series.  One is an A-series Electromatic Skillet pan (A-22) so I will save that one when I cover the Electromatic Skillets;  2 are Rangetoppers which are N-Series so those will have to wait.  The other two, however, I will go ahead add.... because there really don't have any place else to be.

My 1st and 2nd Generation 10 inch skillets with the Pyroceram lids. (they are really 9 7/8 inches, so the P-10-C lids will not fit them, conversely their Pyroceram lids don't fit on the P-10-B either)

The top one is the 1st Generation (1958/59) with the embossed information on the bottom in the center stating "Corning Pyroceram  Made in the U.S.A". 

The one on the bottom is the 2nd Generation (1959/60) with the fuzzy blue print on the bottom stating '10 IN" Corning Ware Pyroceram Made in the U.S.A'.

Neither of these pieces have model numbers, since model numbers didn't exist yet, (the B-38 on the 1st Gen piece is a mold number, not a model number).  Even though these pieces are model number-less, the P-series detachable handles fit on their lugs, so for all intensive purposes, these are P-series as well.

Where is your Corning Ware??
~~