This year marks the 100th anniversary of the famous glass cookware, and this weekend it will take centre stage during the Depression-Era Glass show in Dearborn, on 7 and 8 November.
“People can have an emotional connection to certain vintage glassware,” said Michigan Depression Glass Society member Jennifer Ganem of Dearborn. Pyrex can be found in 80 million households across the country and the collecting craze for Pyrex is widespread, with prices ranging into the thousands for the most sought-after pieces, she said. Author Michael D. Barber has written two collector books on Pyrex, and will be a guest at the MDGS show.
The Pyrex® brand began with “equal parts American invention and creativity”. Initially created by Corning Glass scientists charged with developing lantern glass for railroads, the Pyrex brand found its way into the kitchen when Bessie Littleton, wife of a Corning scientist, asked her husband to bring home some heat-resistant glass to use in place of a broken casserole dish. He gave her the sawed-off bottoms of some battery jars and Mrs. Littleton used the glass jars to make a cake. She marveled at how evenly it baked, how she could actually see it baking in the oven and how easy it was to clean. This innovation spurred the first Corning casserole dish and after two years of research and testing, the Pyrex brand was officially launched in 1915. It is now sold under licence by World Kitchen.
There will also be plenty of other glasswares available at the show, with 15,000 square feet of glassware made in the United States from the early 1900s to the 1960s. In fact, 25 glass dealers from across the country will be on site, offering a variety of glass for sale, from makers like Heisey, Fenton, Imperial, Cambridge, Anchor Hocking, Hazel Atlas, Indiana, Jeannette, Paden City, Westmoreland, McKee and many more.
“This show will offers buyers barware, dinnerware, kitchenware, bakeware and an amazing selection of home decor such as candlesticks, vases and display items,” Ganem said.
The Corning Museum of Glass has a display dedicated to this ‘family favourite’, running from June 6, 2015 – March 17, 2016. “America’s Favorite Dish: Celebrating a Century of Pyrex”.