Corningware
Encyclopedia
CorningWare (also written "Corning Ware") was originally a brand name for a unique pyroceramic glass
Glass
Glass is an amorphous solid material. Glasses are typically brittle and optically transparent.The most familiar type of glass, used for centuries in windows and drinking vessels, is soda-lime glass, composed of about 75% silica plus Na2O, CaO, and several minor additives...
cookware resistant to thermal shock
Thermal shock
Thermal shock is the name given to cracking as a result of rapid temperature change. Glass and ceramic objects are particularly vulnerable to this form of failure, due to their low toughness, low thermal conductivity, and high thermal expansion coefficients...
, that was first introduced in 1958 by Corning Glass Works. CorningWare is notable for the fact that it can be used directly on the stovetop.
History
In 1953, Dr. S. Donald StookeyS. Donald Stookey
Stanley Donald Stookey is an American inventor. He has 60 patents in his name related to glass and ceramics, some solely his while others are jointly with others...
of the Corning research and development division invented Pyroceram
Pyroceram
Pyroceram is a material developed and trademarked by Corning Glass during the 1950s. Its development has been traced to Corning's work in developing photosensitive glass. Corning credits S...
, a white glass-ceramic
Glass-ceramic
Glass-ceramics are polycrystalline material produced through controlled crystallization of base glass. Glass-ceramic materials share many properties with both glasses and ceramics...
material capable of withstanding a thermal shock (sudden temperature change) of up to 450 °C (840 °F). It evolved from materials originally developed for a U.S. ballistic missile
Ballistic missile
A ballistic missile is a missile that follows a sub-orbital ballistic flightpath with the objective of delivering one or more warheads to a predetermined target. The missile is only guided during the relatively brief initial powered phase of flight and its course is subsequently governed by the...
program, and Stookey's research involved heat resistant material for nose cone
Nose cone
The term nose cone is used to refer to the forwardmost section of a rocket, guided missile or aircraft. The cone is shaped to offer minimum aerodynamic resistance...
s.
Patterns and products
CorningWare's oven-to-table service first featured the little blue Cornflower decoration, designed by Joseph Baum, an artist at the Charles Brunelle Advertising Agency in Hartford, ConnecticutHartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making...
, which became the trademark of Corning consumer products for three decades. Following the Cornflower pattern, several addition patterns were offered by Corning over the years. Care must be made to distinguish between CorningWare patterns for cookware made of Pyroceram and patterns for tableware marketed under the Corelle
Corelle
Corelle is a brand of glassware and dishware. It is made of Vitrelle, a laminated tempered glass product with three layers of two types of glass. The thermally bonded layers give Corelle its strength, allowing it to be much thinner than other dinnerware. Introduced by Corning Glass Works in 1970,...
brand name by Corning. Making things difficult is the fact that CorningWare patterns were also used for Corelle tableware. Those patterns which included cookware made of Pyroceram are: Abundance, April, Beige Coupe, Black Trefoil, Blue Dusk, Blue Hearts, Blue Trefoil, Blue Velvet, Callaway, Country Cornflower, Country Cottage, Country Festival, Duck, English Breakfast, English Meadow, Evening Song, Form Fresh, Floral Bouquet, Forever Yours, Fresh Cut, Friendship, Fruit Basket, Garden Harvest, Lynwood Green, Lyrics Black, Medallion, My Garden, Natures Bounty, Oceanview, Orchard Rose, Pastel Bouquet, Peach Floral, Peach Garland, Peony, Pink Trio, Provincial Blue, Quilt, Rosemarie, Shadow Iris, Shangri-La, Silk & Roses, Simple Lines, Spice of Life, Strawberry Sundae, Summer Blush, Sunsations, Symphony, White Coupe, Wildflower and Winter Magic.
More than 750 million pieces of CorningWare's oven-to-table service have been manufactured since its inception. A partial product list includes: browning skillet, casserole dish, coffee pot, frying pan, grabit
Grabit
Grabits are microwave-safe cookware easily identifiable by their tab handle. They were introduced by Corning Glass in the early 1970s, and are now sold in a slightly different form by World Kitchen...
bowl, gravy boat, loaf pan, pie plate, ramekins, roaster, sauce pan, skillet, and teapot.
Discontinuation
Originally manufactured by Corning Glass Works, the CorningWare and CorelleCorelle
Corelle is a brand of glassware and dishware. It is made of Vitrelle, a laminated tempered glass product with three layers of two types of glass. The thermally bonded layers give Corelle its strength, allowing it to be much thinner than other dinnerware. Introduced by Corning Glass Works in 1970,...
brand names are now owned by World Kitchens Incorporated of Reston, Virginia
Reston, Virginia
Reston is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, within the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. The population was 58,404, at the 2010 Census and 56,407 at the 2000 census...
, which relaunched the brand name in 2001. CorningWare is sold worldwide, and it is popular in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
Several of the Corelle patterns have been discontinued since 2010. One of these was the very popular 'Abundance' pattern.
The original pyroceramic glass version of CorningWare was removed from the U.S. market in the late 1990s. It was re-introduced in 2009, due to popular demand.
The company's 2001 annual report shows that the stovetop and dinnerware product lines were halted at the end of the century "as part of a program designed to reduce costs through the elimination of under-utilized capacity, unprofitable product lines, and increased utilization of the remaining facilities." Facilities in Charleroi, Pennsylvania
Charleroi, Pennsylvania
Charleroi is a borough in Washington County, Pennsylvania, along the Monongahela River, 25 miles south of Pittsburgh. Charleroi was settled in 1890 and incorporated in 1891. The population in 1900 stood at 5,930; in 1910, 9,615; in 1920, 11,516, and in 1940, 10,784...
and Clinton, Illinois
Clinton, Illinois
Clinton is the largest city in DeWitt County, Illinois, United States. The population was 7,225 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of DeWitt County.The city and the county are named for DeWitt Clinton, governor of New York, 1817-1823...
were closed.
Other manufacturers of similar oven-to-table products
World Kitchens sells similar looking products under the CorningWare brand name that are common white glazed stoneware. The packaging for these newer CorningWare branded cookware products say specifically that they are not for stovetop use. World Kitchens does still sell Pyroceram Corning Ware to its Asia–Pacific market. These items can be purchased in local department stores there. Additional patterns have been created for this market, including Bliss, Blue Elegance, Country Rose, Dainty Flora, Dandy Blossoms, Elegant City, European Herbs, Herb Country, Lilyville, Lush, Petite Trio, Plum, Salad Seasons and Warm Pansies.Princess House, a "party plan" merchandiser like Tupperware
Tupperware
Tupperware is the name of a home products line that includes preparation, storage, containment, and serving products for the kitchen and home, which were first introduced to the public in 1946....
or Pampered Chef, currently offers similar cookware products that its Web site describes as vitroceramic. Its cookware can be used on the stovetop, in the oven, in the microwave, and even in the freezer.
Corelle
Corelle
Corelle is a brand of glassware and dishware. It is made of Vitrelle, a laminated tempered glass product with three layers of two types of glass. The thermally bonded layers give Corelle its strength, allowing it to be much thinner than other dinnerware. Introduced by Corning Glass Works in 1970,...
is the brand name for the highly break-resistant glass dishware, using a special hub lamination process that thermally bonds three layers of glass — a core center surrounded by top and bottom layers of "skin" or "glaze" glass. The glass was decorated using unique enamels that actually became a part of the glass, creating durable, scratch-resistant designs. Both of these products appear to have originated from the Corning Glass Works in Corning, New York
Corning (city), New York
Corning is a city in Steuben County, New York, United States, on the Chemung River. The population was 10,842 at the 2000 census. It is named for Erastus Corning, an Albany financier and railroad executive who was an investor in the company that developed the community.- Overview :The city of...
, USA.
External links
- Corningware official page
- CorningWare FAQ at World Kitchens
- Possibly the Corning Visions Patent
- Heat-Resistant Glass at Bookrags.com