Many opal PYREX collectors are familiar with the model numbering system used on kitchenware and bakeware. Mixing bowls, Cinderella bowls and many casserole sets used the 400-series numbering system. These sets were actively marketed to the public through Corning Glass Works’ Consumer Products Division, so a lot of information is available to collectors both online and in print. 

However, opal PYREX Restaurantware / Tableware is a bit more of a mystery. Advertising for these items was limited to foodservice establishments and not much documentation remains. Recently, Jeffery Tevyaw, an avid restaurantware collector, graciously shared some research compiled from original documentation at the The Corning Archives. 

Model numbers for restaurantware typically utilized the 700-series numbering system:

The Cosmopolitan Promotional item is a favorite for collectors due to its innovative design and mysterious origins. The casserole is sometimes referred to as the "bulls eye" due to the design.

The casserole (475 2 1/2 Qt Round Casserole) is curious in that some versions have the familiar PYREX stamp on the bottom while others are marked "Salton." 

The Salton version of the casserole was manufactured by Corning Glass Works for Salton, Inc. as part of the Cosmopolitan Hot Casserole Set. The set included the casserole and a a square warmer (Model No. H-109C). Salton was a popular manufacturer of hot plates and food warmers during the 1960s and 1970s. When sold as part of the Salton set, the casserole is typically stamped "Salton" on the bottom. 

A recently acquired Salton set, which included the box, revealed the date of manufacture as 1973. The date was stamped on the bottom of the box as the production date. 

The casseroles marked "PYREX" may have been sold separately by Corning, rather than Salton during the same time period, although this is speculation.

The Homestead (Blue) pattern was a popular design for Corning in the late 1970s. The pattern was produced on multiple items from 1976-1980.

According to interviews with former Corning employees, the Homestead pattern was created in direct response to the hugely popular Pfaltzcraft pattern, which was very similar in design.

The Homestead pattern was sold on many types of bake ware: Mixing Bowls, Cinderella Bowls, Refrigerator Set, and Round Casserole Sets, to name a few. The pattern was also evidently sold in a very unique configuration as the "6 Piece. Country Kitchen Set."

The Country Kitchen Set, only sold in the Homestead design, consisted of the following items:
1 1/2 Qt (1.5 L) Square Refrigerator Dish (model 503)
2 1/2 Qt (2.5 L) Round Casserole with lid (model 475)
1 1/2 Qt (1.5 L) Mixing Bowl (model 402)
2 1/2 Qt (2.5 L) Mixing Bowl (model 403)

Many PYREX collectors enjoy collecting commemorative PYREX manufactured at the plant
in Charleroi, PA. The plant not only created PYREX items for local community events, but also made commemorative pieces for employees, marketing events and trade shows. Employees also received unique PYREX gifts for Christmas and were able to purchase test designs and production mistakes in the company store. These unique and sometimes
one-of-a-kind items typically command top dollar in online auctions.

Commemorative employee pieces were often produced in coordination with the launch of a new product. For example, the small Individual Pixie Dish (model #700) was launched
in 1970 on Daisy, Verdé and Horizon Blue and employees received a complimentary
Pixie Dish at the Plant Service Dinner. Likewise, in 1964, when small restaurantware “cereal bowls” (model #1416) were launched, employees received a commemorative bowl with gold lettering stating “50 Years of Better Tasting Meals” on one side and “Corning, 11-5-64, Charleroi” on the other. 

The solid blue 473 round casserole was produced as an employee appreciation item recognizing "Excellence." The front contains the text, "Corning Glass Works, Blue Chip Week, April 21-27, 1963" while the back reads, "Charleroi Family Day April 27, 1963."

Employees also sometimes received PYREX as a holiday gift. These items are a favorite with collectors for the holidays. The white 475 round casserole dish was decorated with green holly and a red ribbon with the text, "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year." The exact date of production is unknown but presumed to be in the early 1970s.

Another holiday item, also assumed to be produced in the early 1970s, is a green
443 cinderella bowl. The bowls reads, "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year" on one side while the other side (shown) has red ribbons and white holly leaves.

Recenly an ebay seller in Charleroi, PA, whose parents worked at the plant unearthed a case of another version of the bowl with orange ribbons, instead of white, which was likely a test design.

Corning, Incorporated, with headquarters in Corning, NY has a long history of science-based innovations in glassware and ceramics. Although many collectors associate Corning Glass with consumer product brands, such as PYREX, Corningware and Corelle, the company’s core focus has always been on scientific and industrial applications.

Some of the notable innovations in science:
1880s: Production of the first light bulbs for Thomas Edison.
1900s: Creation of weather-proof glass railroad lanterns, which would soon become the basis for clear “Pyrex.”
1930s: Fabrication of telescope mirrors for California Institute of Technology.
1940s: Manufacture of durable  dinner-ware for the U.S. military, which would soon evolve into opal “Pyrex.”
1960s: Creation of safer automobile windshields which fracture into small granules if
broken.
1970s: Development of fiber optics used in networking and telecommunications.

In 1851, Amory Houghton, Sr. founded what would become Corning Glass in Cambridge, MA as Bay State Glass Company. By 1864, he had sold his interest in the company and purchased the idle Brooklyn Flint Glass Company in Brooklyn, NY. A few years later, in 1868, labor problems forced Houghton to relocate to Corning, NY where the company set up shop as Corning Flint Glass Company. By 1870, the company was renamed Corning Glass Works of Corning, NY. 

The Consumer Products Division of Corning Glass Works focused on glass and ceramic products for home use. The first consumer products were launched in 1915 with PYREX Ware – twelve clear glass products that could be used for baking as well as storing. Prior to this time, glass was too sensitive to sudden temperature changes, causing breakage. Corning based the kitchenware formula on its weather-resistant lanterns developed for the railroads a few years earlier.

Popular consumer products included: 
       
Clear PYREX Ware (1915-1998 by Corning Glass Works, 1998-Present by World Kitchen)

Flameware (1936-1979)

Opal PYREX (1945-1986)

Corningware (1958-1998 by Corning Glass Works, 2009 re-launched by World Kitchen) 

Corelle Livingware (1970-1998 by Corning Glass Works, 1998-Present by World Kitchen) 
 
The Consumer Products Division enjoyed great popularity and success throughout much of the 20th century. However, the 1990s brought about much change. The company was renamed Corning, Inc. in 1990 and revived its focus on research and technology. Based on declining sales and profits in consumer products, the division was sold to Borden Foods in 1998 and renamed World Kitchen, LLC in 2000. World Kitchen continues to manufacture many items, such as Corelle and clear PYREX. In 2009, World Kitchen also re-launched Corningware.

Believe it or not, March 14 is National Potato Chip Day! In honor of the holiday, here’s the history of how PYREX embraced North America’s favorite snack and what led to the creation of popular “Chip and Dip Sets” in the 1950s and 1960s. But first, a little chip and dip history.

According to many urban legends (some of which are hotly debated on the Internet), the potato chip was invented in 1853  by George Crum, a resort chef in Saratoga, NY. The son of an African-American father and a Native American mother, Crum invented the chip when a patron who ordered a plate of french-fried potatoes sent them back to Crum's kitchen because he felt they were too thick and soft. Crum decided to get back at the complainer by making really bad fries that were too thin and crisp to eat with a fork. But the plan backfired. The guest liked the brown, paper-thin potatoes and soon potato chips were a  specialty at the resort. Crum opened his own restaurant in 1860 with the profits he made selling his new chips. Every table had a complimentary basket of, you guessed it, potato chips. Potato chips remained a local Saratoga delicacy until the 1930s, when an enterprising salesman, Herman Lay, popularized the product throughout the United States.

By the late 1950s, potato chips had become North America’s #1 snack food. At the same time, entertaining had changed from a formal, sit-down affair to casual buffet dining or coffee-table service.

Chips were becoming more than picnic fare and were now served alongside cheeses and other “finger foods.” Embracing the casual dining trend, the Lipton Company began promoting new uses for its dried soup mix. The company experimentally launched a campaign that taught people to combine their undiluted dried soup mix with sour cream and “dip,” the perfect companion to salty chips, was born.

Not to be left behind, Corning Glass Works launched a wide variety of PYREX Chip and Dip Sets starting in the late 1950s. The two-bowl set was advertised as useful not only for chips and dip, but also for salads, floral centerpieces and seafood appetizers.

The first sets from Corning in the late 1950s included the Hot ‘N’ Cold Chip and Dip Set (known as Turquoise “Eyes”) which combined 401/403 mixing bowls, Balloons in 1958 and Golden Scroll in 1959, both of which combined 441/444 cinderella bowls and the Turquoise Chip ‘N’ Dip Hostess Set in 1959.

In the 1960s, PYREX sets included Golden Grapes in 1960, Early American and Town & Country in 1963, Ivy in 1964, Verdé in 1967 and Americana Fall Colors in 1968.

By the 1970s, fewer sets were available with only the Pineapple Party set released in 1972, which combined 401 and 404 mixing bowls.

The 1980s saw the release of the Speckled Lines Chip and Dip set which used a wooden disk rather than a metal bracket to hold the dip bowl. This set combined a 404 mixing bowl with a small 10 oz. "berry bowl" borrowed from the dinnerware product line.

These PYREX salt and pepper sets were released in 1960 with turquoise, pink, pale yellow and white tops. They originally retailed for $1.49 for the set. Sets were designed to match PYREX bakeware in turquoise, pink, pale yellow and opal which was available during the same time period. Each set was made of thick glass with a gold-embossed “S” or “P.”

Although they lack the familiar embossed PYREX marking, they appear in PYREX dealer
catalogs in 1960 through 1963. In 1964 and 1965, only the white-top set was listed, so it’s uncertain if pink, turquoise and pale yellow were still sold or if they had been discontinued.

In the early 1970s, Corning launched a full-line of PYREX Compatibles to coordinate with Corelle Livingware patterns. The first salt and pepper sets in the PYREX Compatibles line, all launched in 1972, were Spring Blossom Green, Butterfly Gold, and Snowflake Blue. When these items made their debut, salt and pepper sets were sold in white, applied to clear glass, with the matching design. The white paint, which was prone to chipping, was replaced with clear glass in 1975.

The white background was available until 1974 on Spring Blossom Green, Butterfly Gold, Snowflake Blue, and Old Town Blue. Old Town Blue was somewhat unique in that the PYREX tabletop items did not have a line of matching PYREX mixing and bakeware sets. However, marketing materials after 1976 advertised that Old Town Blue was an ideal companion to the newly released PYREX Homestead pattern.  
 
White Background S&P Sets 
Spring Blossom Green: 1972-1974
Butterfly Gold: 1972-1974
Snowflake Blue: 1972-1974 
Old Town Blue: 1974

In 1975, the new clear background replaced the white background on Spring Blossom Green, Butterfly Gold, Snowflake Blue, and Old Town Blue. Snowflake Blue with a clear background was only available in 1975, the year in which the pattern was discontinued. Autumn Harvest, although not a PYREX Compatibles product line offered tabletop ware, including a clear salt and pepper set from 1980-1983.  
  
Clear Background S&P Sets
Spring Blossom Green: 1975-1983
Butterfly Gold: 1975-1983
Snowflake Blue: 1975 
Old Town Blue: 1975-1983
Woodland: 1978-1983
Autumn Harvest: 1980-1983