Before Corning Ware and VISIONS . . .

[joeekaitis]

. . . there was Pyrex Flameware.

So, wha' happened to it? Most likely, the rise in popularity of electric ranges with coil surface units was the beginning of the end. Flameware could handle the direct heat of an open flame but was no match for the intense contact heat of an electric coil, so Corning offered wire spacers to owners of electric ranges. Also, borosilicate Pyrex has the same tensile strength as tempered glass. A good hard knock while washing the pot could introduce a hairline crack that would make it prone to failure even on a gas burner.

The world would have to wait until the late 1950s for stovetop CorningWare with Pyrex lids that let you monitor the cooking progress from above, but it wouldn't be until the 1980s that VISIONS would bring back see-through stovetop cookware.

http://www.moma.org/collection/artist.php?artist_id=9005

 

[bugsyjones]

Visions

I think my mom has some 80's visions. She has a whole set. She doesn't use them anymore but she has them. Small saucepan, Large Saucepan, Dutch Oven, Big Skillet, and Small Skillet (all with lids). Cake pan, brownie pan, loaf pan, and pie plate. All in the amber glass.

I remember as a youth watching the bubbles when she would boil macaroni and watching the noodles bounce up and down inside.

~Tim J.

 

[tomturbomatic]

I found some of that original flameware with detachable handles in an old hardware store. I used to use it when I had an apt with a gas stove. When I got a microwave, I used it in that, but then put it away for the museum. I managed to find all of the pieces in all of the different designs they made, new, by checking out old hardware stores. I remember making 7 minute icing in the double boiler.