Collecting Vintage Pyrex

It’s been a staple of American households for decades. Loved by boomers to millennials. This dinner-time icon has literally been right under our noses our entire lives. It’s Pyrex the ultimate collectible kitchenware.

There are lots of collectible vintage glassware out there...such as Fire King, Bake-lite and the popular and very expensive Franciscan Starburst. But Pyrex is the one that checks all the collectible boxes: It evokes nostalgia, is easy to find and for the most part...reasonably priced.

So what is Pyrex? Introduced by Corning in 1915, Pyrex is made with Borosilicate glass which is strong, durable, and can withstand sudden changes in temperature. Which is what makes this multi-use product so popular. You could bake your food in the oven... then serve it in the same dish. Then when you are finished you could take that same dish to store the leftovers in the refrigerator.

In this post we are going to highlight the opal glass Pyrex from the mid-forties to the late 1960’s. Mostly pieces from these categories.

Starting with the standard mixing bowls. Which usually came in sets of three or four.

Solid Blue Mixing bowls

Cinderella Bowls designed with handles that could also be used as a spout to pour.

Gooseberry Cinderella bowls

Refrigerator sets made to store your leftovers.

Butterprint refrigerator Set

The “Bake-Serve-Store sets which highlight this product’s multiple uses.

Butterprint Bake-Serve-Store set

Casserole sets which were were a little larger than the “Bake-serve-store sets.

Friendship casserole Set

And divided serving dishes.

White Snowflake on Black divided dish

The beautiful standard patterns often reflected the style of the time they were produced. The very first consumer kitchenware pattern by Pyrex, was this primary colors mixing bowl set. Which was produced from 1945 to 1968.

Primary color mixing bowl set

In 1949 came the Pyrex Hostess sets. Which came in autumn red and harvest yellow. This dish is part of the “oven and table” set and belonged to my mom. I remember many holiday meals served in this very dish.

My Mom’s Red Hostess casserole dish with lid

In 1955 the designs became a little more interesting with “Desert Dawn,” which had a solid light color with a darker speckle on top of it. This came in two colors...Desert Pink and Desert Yellow.

In 1956 we started to see the classic designs that are so collectible today. Here are a few favorites.

Pink Daisy

Butterprint

Friendship

Gooseberry

Rainbow Stripes

White Snowflake on Turquoise

Another desirable Pyrex collectible are the “Promotional Patterns,” which were for the most part...individual pieces that were only available for a limited time.

The very first was released in 1953. This Heinz Baking and Serving Dish. If shoppers bought three cans of Heinz products they could get the dish for only 79 cents.

The second Pyrex promotional was released in 1956... this Super Deluxe Casserole known to collectors as the UFO. It came with a brass lid, cradle and candle warmer.

A couple of years later in 1958, Pyrex released this really nice Balloons Chip and Dip set, which I’m sure was a hit at any party.

Also from 1958, this oval Mod Kitchen casserole dish. This was one design that really screamed the fifties. This one is missing it’s brass cradle.

This Golden Poinsettia Buffet Server from 1961-1962. Complete with brass cradle and candle warmer.

Here is a 1961-62 Blue Wheat Hostess Casserole. Which originally came with a brass cradle with plastic handles. Below it is a White Snowflake on Black divided serving dish.

Check out this 1966 Blue Stripe, which looks like a bar code. This is just one piece of a bake serve & store set. This design also came in a casserole set. Making it one of the few promotional pieces to be produced as a set.

And finally this 1973 Salton Cosmopolitan Hot Casserole which originally came with a matching hot plate.

You will be hard pressed to not find some Pyrex in about every antique store. It’s also easy to find on EBay and Facebook marketplace. To learn more about this vintage kitchenware there are a number of good websites out there such as:

pyrexcollector.com

pyrexlove.com

And the website of the Corning Museum of glass ...pyrex.cmog.org

And for overall reference you can’t beat this book “Pyrex Passion” which you can get on their website Pyrexpassion.com.

Though Pyrex is still around today, production of the colorful opal glassware we love to collect stopped production in 1986. But lucky for us this amazingly durable product has survived all these years. For a closer look at this beautiful glassware check out the video below.