Ekco Kitchen Tool Mystery....

[danemodsandy]

Hello All:

I'm finding a certain line of Ekco kitchen tools in thrift stores that I don't know anything about. Although I spent most of the '80s in the kitchenwares biz, the store I was with was upscale, and we didn't carry Ekco stuff.

The items I'm finding have the handle pictured below - it's a molded-on black plastic handle that is 1960s in styling, with a cross-hatched area for grip. The line appears to have been pretty extensive; I have a grater, a sieve, a pizza wheel, a cheese plane and a couple of other items with this handle. These items are of very decent quality, with stainless used for the working parts, but they are not the finest quality of which Ekco was capable, such as the Flint stove-side tools. All of my items are black, but I have seen some with Avocado handles as well. A check of eBay shows some NOS items, which are carded, not boxed, another indication that this was a mass-market line.

Does anyone know anything about this line? I'd be grateful for any information, especially a name for the line.

 

[supersuds]

This is all I've got

Been in the family for a long time. I would guess the Seventies. Almost certainly bought at a grocery store.

 

[polkanut]

My mom received some of these pieces as wedding shower gifts in 1967.  The majority have worn out and been replaced, especially the pizza wheel and the spatula similar to the bottom one in the pic posted above.  We have a few pieces that we've found at estate sales, but nothing too out of the ordinary.

 

[retromania]

Yes

I am very familiar with this line. My mother had several pieces of it. Spatula like the one pictured above. Meat fork and a knife sharpener with the metal disks. She bought them at the hardware store in the 70's. Also came in white!

 

[launderess]

Ditto

Our mother had those, indeed they could be found all over growing up from Grandmama's kitchen to countless others. You just had to watch the plastic bits weren't too close to gas flames or they would melt.

 

[jamiel]

These were the supermarket/mass market tools which Ekco made for years and years. I think they have plastic handles without tangs. The high-quality tools were Ekco Flint which had the riveted Bakelite handles with the full-tang design. They last forever I remember getting my mother a set of them in the early 70s I'd say. She had gotten wood-handled Ekco for her wedding which had pretty well had it. My dad and I wanted to get her the mostest-of-the-bestest and we found Ekco Flint either at Famous-Barr or Central Hardware and got a full set (ISTR that the whole set cost $30 or so--we bought open stock). The Ekco Flint is still in nice shape but the dishwasher has taken much of the shine off of the Bakelite.

 

[danemodsandy]

Thanks....

....For all the responses thus far. I especially appreciate the photos and the descriptions of other available items.

Jamiel, I appreciate that these were not the quality of the Flint tools, than which there were no finer (yes, that includes Cutco), but the items I have are of very good quality for what they are. Ekco was capable of making some real dreck! I note that in John's (Supersuds) photo that the bottom spatula appears to be chrome-plate, rather than stainless, though. All the items I have use stainless for their business ends.

If anyone else has pieces of this, let us know what you have, so that an idea of what the line encompassed will emerge. Thanks!

 

[whirlaway]

On The Subject of Thrift Shops!

I found the other day a corning ware percolator with an elongated star on the front instead of the cornflower is this one of the first ones.Reminded me of a Lincoln hood ornament from the 50s,Thanks Bobby

 

[DADoES]

 

 

[danemodsandy]

Bobby:

Your coffee pot sounds like "Black Starburst," a somewhat rare Corning Ware pattern that was made in the late '50s-early '60s. The coffee pot is the only item I know of made in this pattern, which probably means it was an "exclusive" to a big retailer or premium company such as Sears, Penney's, Ward's or Sperry & Hutchinson, the S&H Green Stamp people.

The photo shows the first version with the Corning Ware pouring lip; this one is really rare. Corning discontinued this version when it was found that the lip chipped easily, and redesigned the item to use a metal top and lip. That second version is more common, but still not plentiful in Black Starburst.

 

[whirlaway]

Thanks!

Im going back tomorrow,but it wasnt like that,it was an elongated star, I will go ahead and get it,let you know whats on the bottom!

 

[danemodsandy]

I'll Be Interested.....

....To see what you're talking about, Bobby.

By the way, for Corning fans - the Black Starburst pattern percolator is shown in the 1959 Sears Christmas catalog, priced at $9.95 for the six-cup model, and $10.95 for the eight-cup. As you can see, both versions are stovetop, not electric percolators.

I do not know if this was an exclusive for Sears; other Corning Ware items shown are the first version of Blue Cornflower, with the fin lids and the first buffet cradles, which were costly to produce and not made very long. This was the first year for Corning Ware.

 

[polkanut]

I like those West Bend Aristo-Craft look alikes.

 

[tomturbomatic]

I have two of the Ekco pancake turners with the wide, rounded black nylon blade. I bought them at Rich's in the 70s, have always washed them in the dishwasher and they are still going strong. I especially like them for turning hash browns. I shred a raw potato and put it in a 10" skillet with hot oil. When it is ready to be turned, this spatula/turner allows me to turn the whole thing in one piece. I have not seen another turner with this wide plastic blade. I do not use metal utensils in any of my cookware. Most of the utensils are Melamine, some of them are the Mepalware from Denmark and then the stuff Dansk sold. They have held up surprisingly well.

 

[danemodsandy]

Tim:

It's almost certain that those pieces actually were Aristo-Craft, just with a different handle location (side instead of corner) and handle/knob shape.

Sears did this all the time, offering manufacturers a sizable contract to produce something they already produced, with detail changes and the Sears name on it.

The catch was that Sears had the loyalty of a two-dolla you-know-what; if the item didn't sell, Sears would back out and refuse to honor the contract. This happened to a company my grandfather, a clothing designer, worked for. His opinion of Sears was quite pungent.

 

[whirlaway]

You were Right!!!!!!

I went back today,it was just as you said,odd close-by was a cornflower 10cup,while this one is a 9cup,with a metal lid and a very tiny chip on the spout.Hey for 3.99 I bought it,and it has that strange little knot on the handle,Thanks so much for you taking your time for the help,Dane Bobby

 

[danemodsandy]

Bobby:

I'd sure like to see the pattern on the one you bought, if it's not Black Starburst.

That little knot on the handle is a thumb stop; as you're pouring, your thumb rests against it and you don't have a problem with the pot suddenly tilting downward more than you intended.

If yours is Black Starburst, there is a mint NOS replacement bowl here:

http://www.classickitchensandmore.c...p-replacement-coffee-pot-nos-p-6814.html[this post was last edited: 6/5/2013-12:45]

 

[tomturbomatic]

I love the fin-handle lids and have them for all of my P series saucepans. They are much easier to grip than that little tiny knob.

Are those square pans by Bridgeport? If so, they were offered with the copper sandwich construction and with copper exteriors.

 

[danemodsandy]

Knobs:

I have later, A-Series lids for all my Corning ware pieces, where there was an A-Series equivalent. The A-Series knob is much bigger and easier to grip than the P-Series round knobs were; the round-knobbed lids came after the fin lids. Fin lids are out of the question where I live; they turn up here very, very seldom and I would hate to pay eBay prices for enough lids for all the Corning Ware I own.

Only for a few P-Series pieces, like the saucemaker and the P-4-B rectangular pan, is there no equivalent A-Series lid.