The First Non-Stick Lining for Cookware

 

QUESTION: I have been fascinated with antiques enamel kitchenware since I was in my twenties. Over the years, I’ve purchased a number of pieces at flea markets and antique cooperatives. However, I bought them because I liked them. I know very little about this enamelware. When did it first appear? Why did manufacturers decide to make this type of cookware?

ANSWER: Today, we take pots and pans with non-stick surfaces for granted. With the invention of Teflon, the problem seemed to be solved. But people soon discovered that even Teflon had its drawbacks. Over time, many cooks discovered that enamel-lined cookware works even better than Teflon. But the use of enamel cookware isn’t new. In fact, it goes all the way back to Germany in the 1760s.

The original reason for the invention of enamel-lined cookware had nothing to do with its non-stick abilities. Back then, people wanted a a way of coating iron to stop the taste  of metal or rust getting into their food. Cookware manufacturers looked for something acid-resistant and easy to clean without laborious scouring, something more durable than the tin linings used inside copper.

Enamel was an expensive adornment material for jewelry and pottery from the ancient Egyptians to the Chinese and Anatolians and to the British.

Often called porcelain when used on cookware, enamel was a coating material in the form of powdered glass. Fired at very high heat in a kiln, this powdered glass melted, flowed and finally hardened on any surface that could withstand the process. 

Craftspersons applied the fusing of the glass layer by layer, applying the design via a ceramic decal, permanently sealing it as a result of being fired at such high temperatures. The final result was a smooth and durable porcelain veneer decorated with artwork that would never peel. 

The use of vitreous enamel on cast iron sinks and bathtubs goes back to the 1850s and the Industrial Revolution.

Craftspeople in the mid 19th century were already searching for a material that would enable a cooking surface that wouldn't rust and leach harmful substances into the food. By applying enamel to the inside of cast iron pots and pans, they created the first non-stick surface ideal for baking, cooking, and tableware to safely maintain the taste of their food. 

From the late 19th century on, cookware manufacturers began to apply enamel to steel instead of cast iron. Enamel kitchenware stamped from thin sheets of steel appeared in every household as pans, pots, kettles, baking dishes, ladles, cups, bowls, plates, and biscuit cutters, becoming primary kitchenware. 

This new cookware was not only easier to clean and scratch-proof but also lighter in weight. As an incredibly durable material, enamelware became popular because it was less fragile than china.

White was a standard color on enamelware since that gave plates, mugs, ladles, and coffee pots a bright, sanitary appearance. Cookware maker trimmed the rims of lightweight steel enamelware with a solid band of red or blue, while enameled cast iron, designed for the stovetop and oven, was usually white on the inside but colored on the exterior.

Graniteware was a variation of lightweight enamelware that had a speckled surface—white on brownish-red and other colors. Patented in 1848 by New York inventor Charles Stumer, graniteware—also known as agateware and speckleware—enjoyed a long run in the United States, filling kitchen shelves and cabinets from the 1870s until the end of World War II.

U.S. manufacturers of graniteware included the St. Louis Stamping Company, which marketed its products under the Granite Iron Ware brand, Lalance and Grosjean, whose Peerless Gray Ware was sold by Sears, Roebuck and Company, the Bellaire Stamping Company, and Vollrath. 

The 1870s witnessed an emergence of innovation in American kitchenware. Previously used only in the manufacture of pots and pans, enamel came to be used in a variety of items and decorations, from speckled to spattered. 

Migrants from France and Germany founded the first two US companies making enamel cookwares in the 1860s. Lalance and Grosjean, whose founders emigrated from France, started as a business importing sheet metal and metal cookware before setting up their Manufacturing Company in New York, with a metal stamping factory in Woodhaven. They called their mottled enamel agateware which was typically blue.

German immigrants Frederick and William Niedringhaus built up the St. Louis Stamping Co. in Missouri, then moved graniteware production to Granite City, Illinois.  They later evolved into NESCO, whose grey enamel was sometimes said to flow from "pure melted granite." They got the first US patent for a mottled enamel finish, just a few months before a competing patent by L & G. Both companies went on to patent numerous improvements, from better spouts to novel surface decoration.

The best-known brands of granite and agate wares sold for higher prices  In 1899 Lalance and Grosjean’s agate nickel-steel ware” cost more than Haberman’s “grey mottled enameled ware.”  From the 1890s onward, L&Gs agate ware came with a “chemist’s certificate,’ proving it free of “arsenic, antimony, and lead.” L&G's two-quart lipped saucepan cost 18¢ while Haberman's sold for 7¢. Meanwhile, Sears had a set of 17 pieces of "Peerless gray enamel ware" selling for about $2.70.

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Articles section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the over 30,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about "The  Vernacular Style" in the 2024 Winter Edition, online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques and More Collection on Facebook.

The Ultimate All-in-One

QUESTION: My grandmother had a cabinet in her kitchen which she called a “Hoosier.” She told me her mother left it to her and now I have it in my kitchen. What can you tell me about it?

ANSWER: The modern kitchen with its microwave, glass-topped stove, side-by-side refrigerator, and granite countertops is a far cry from your great-grandma’s kitchen. The most modern thing in her kitchen was her Hoosier, an all-in-one preparation and storage unit that brought her convenience and practicality.

Named after the Hoosier Manufacturing Co. of New Castle, Indiana, the Hoosier cabinet was to become one of the most popular pieces of furniture to hit the American market. Though there were other companies in Indiana that made them, Hoosier Manufacturing built over four million of these special cabinets between 1900 and 1940. Until 1920, the company made and finished their new all-in-one cabinet in natural oak, but as the third decade of the 20th century progressed, they began to offer Hooisers with white enamel-lined drawers. Because of the bright white of the enamel, people called them “White Beauties.”

When the Hoosier first appeared, American homes didn’t have built-in storage cabinets. Soon housewives demanded something in which they could store their baking supplies and equipment, as well as give them an additional work surface. The company quickly adapted the 19th-century baker’s cabinet, a piece of furniture they were already making, to fit the needs of the modern housewife. These existing cabinets featured a work surface to roll out and knead dough, a few cabinets above, and  “possum belly” drawers below to hold flour and sugar. Manufacturers of these baker’s cabinets made the drawers from tin to protect their contents from rodents. At first, they made the work surface of wood, then later employed zinc, aluminum, and porcelain enamel. They attached casters to the legs, both for ease of moving and to keep ants out of the cabinet.

By rearranging the parts of the baker’s cabinet, Hoosier Manufacturing came up with a well-organized, compact unit which answered the housewife’s needs for storage and working space. The company added to these cabinets many improvements, including flour sifters, bread drawers lined with enamel, cutting boards, and an assortment of storage containers, to help the homemaker.

The typical Hoosier cabinet had three sections—a bottom section, featuring one large compartment with a slide-out shelf and several drawers to one side, a top portion only half as deep with several smaller compartments with doors, with or without windows, and a large lower compartment with a roll-top door that could be closed to hide various tools and equipment. Hoosier joined the top and bottom of the cabinet using a pair of metal channels which served as the guide for a sliding work surface, which usually had a pair of shallow drawers attached to its underside. The cabinet, with its work surface retracted, was normally about two feet deep— double that when pulled out—while the cabinet stood nearly six feet high.

A distinctive feature of the Hoosier cabinet was its accessories. Most came equipped with a variety of racks and other hardware to hold and organize spices and various staples. Some came with a hand coffee grinder and a combination flour-bin/sifter, a tin hopper that a housewife could use without having to remove it from the cabinet. Some contained a similar bin for sugar.

To hold a variety of spices and other staples, Hoosiers came equipped with special glass jars, manufactured by the Sneath Glass Company, to fit the cabinet and its racks. Original sets of Hoosier glassware consisted of coffee and tea canisters, a salt box, and four to eight spice jars. Some manufacturers also included a cracker or cookie jar. Some Hoosiers had elastic straps attached on the inside of their doors behind which housewives could place cards with such information as measurement conversions, sample menus, and household tips.

Manufacturers marked their cabinets with an identifying label which was often engraved or stamped onto metal, then screwed onto the front of the cabinet. Some glued paper labels on the back of the cabinet. Both types often disappeared as a result of refinishing.

Though Hoosier cabinets remained popular into the 1930s, they began to fall into disuse as soon as home builders equipped new kitchens with built-in cabinets and other appliances. Today, Hoosiers, dating from 1900-1910, sell on eBay for $500-$2,300. Later models sell for as little as $200.

To read more articles on antiques, please visit the Antiques Article section of my Web site.  And to stay up to the minute on antiques and collectibles, please join the other 18,000 readers by following my free online magazine, #TheAntiquesAlmanac. Learn more about western antiques in the special 2019 Spring Edition, "Down to the Sea in Ships," online now. And to read daily posts about unique objects from the past and their histories, like the #Antiques & More Collection on Facebook.

The King of Glass

QUESTION: I have a beautiful green glass cordial set that belonged to my great grandmother. It’s been passed down to me. I just love this set and would like to know more about it. I was told that it was made by the Moser Glass Company in Czechslovakia. What can you tell me about it?

ANSWER: It’s difficult to tell if your cordial set is in fact made by Moser. It’s definitely in its style but other company copied it. Moser was one of the only Bohemian glass companies to sign some of their works. Usually the signature is in gold enamel somewhere on the piece, but many pieces remained unsigned.

Of all the Bohemian glassmakers of the 19th century, Ludwig Moser, known as the “King of Glass,” is probably the most famous. The company was well known for its heavy and intricate gold enameling. But Moser wasn’t the only glass decorator to adorn blanks with this type of decoration. Glassmakers copied each other in an effort to get their share of the market. Like many Bohemian firms, Moser sold blanks to other companies for decoration and decorated blanks bought from other companies, such as  Loetz, Meyr's Neffe and Harrachov, so it can be difficult to tell if Moser indeed made a particular piece.
                   
Ludwig Moser was born in 1833 and began his apprenticeship in the glass business at age 14. From there, he became a skilled engraver. In 1870, he opened a refinery in Karlsbad, Bohemia, today Karlovy Gary in the Czech Republic, and employed other glass cutters and engravers who decorated glass blanks purchased from other companies. The firm's work earned Moser international recognition for his engraved drinking glasses.

By 1880, Moser was making the intricately enameled glass that’s most often associated with him. He designed them for the Oriental market, intending them to resemble the work of Arabian goldsmiths. In 1893, he took over a glassworks factory in Meierhofen bei Karlsbad, employing 400 workers, under the name of Karlsbaderglasindustrie Gesellschaft Ludwig Moser & Söhne and where his sons Gustav and Rudolf also worked. Here he produced shaded transparent engraved glass. Within a short time Moser’s company gained the reputation as the most prestigious producer of crystal in the Austrian-Hungarian Empire.

Because of the excellent quality of his work, Emperor Franz Joseph I appointed Moser as the exclusive supplier of glass to the royal family. He won numerous awards at the World Exhibitions in Paris in 1879, 1889 and 1900, and the World Exhibition in Chicago in 1893.

The firm also introduced pieces with applied glass flowers and fruits. These remained popular through the 1920s and marked Moser's departure from the intricately enameled luxury glass he had made earlier. By 1922, Moser Glass became the largest producer of luxurious drinking and decorative glass in Czechoslovakia. Moser's son, Leo, who had taken over the firm upon the death of his father in 1916, sold the firm in 1938. When the Communists took over Czechoslovakia, the government took over the Moser glass works but continued to use its name.

Moser glassware commands top prices, so collectors need to know their glassware or purchase pieces from reputable dealers to avoid paying top dollar for similar work by a less famous firm. Cups and saucers run about $300 a set, with larger pieces or those with unusual forms hovering around $2,000.

Prices for Moser engraved glass run about the same. Amethyst or green en-graved miniature rose bowls run around $275 to $350. Larger, more detailed pieces command more money. An amethyst intaglio engraved perfume and stopper runs about $650, a covered box about $800, and a tray about $500. Vases run $600 to $1,000 and up, depending on size and design. Green and crystal enameled pieces, which date anywhere from the late 19th to the early 20th centuries sell for under $200.

Little Keepsakes That Tell a Story

QUESTION: I live in Atlanta, Georgia, and attended some of the events at the Olympic Games held here in 1996. During the games, I acquired about 100 Olympic pins through purchase and trading. I’m particularly proud of the groups of pins I was able to collect, such as one in which all the pins are in the shapes of guitars. My favorite are the blimp pins commemorating the Good Year blimp that helped in media coverage of the games. Can you tell me how the tradition of collecting pins began and what the market is like for Olympic pins today?

ANSWER: You certainly seemed to have amassed quite a number of pins during the Atlanta Games. Today, pins come in all shapes, colors, and sizes and represent a myriad of people, activities, and events at the Games. With the start of the Summer Olympics in Rio this week, it seems appropriate to take a look back and see how pin collecting began.

Pin collecting has become a sport unto itself. But it wasn’t always like that. The Olympic pin tradition began with small cardboard badges worn by athletes and officials at the first modern Olympic Games held in Athens, Greece in 1896. Athletes from competing teams traded them as a gesture of goodwill. At the 1908 Games in Paris, designs of pins grew as specific groups like judges, coaches, and reporters got involved.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued the first pins to be sold to spectators at the 1912 Games in Stockholm, Sweden. Today, the pins created for the 1940 games,  cancelled because of World War II, are highly sought after by collectors.

In 1968, the Mexico City games featured the first butterfly-clutch pin fastener, which  became the standard for Olympic pins. But it wasn’t until the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles, California, that trading pins became a tradition. Sponsoring companies, such as Coca-Cola, set up official trading stations to market their own pins. Because the pins were small and affordable, fans quickly seized the opportunity to bring home keepsakes for themselves. At the 1984 Los Angeles Games, some 17 million pins circulated among fans, participants, media representatives, and officials.

Pins began as a pre-social media form of communication that gave fans a reason to start a conversation with each other. The individual country Olympic committees, sponsors, bid cities, media outlets, and many others issue these colorful enameled pins today. Hundreds of thousands appear at each of the Games.

Pins are generally manufactured in limited numbered editions, and collectors seek out those produced in the smallest quantities or from the earliest Games. These also include pins issued by the various cities competing for a chance to host the Olympics.

Some of the most popular ones to collect are those from the smaller countries, such as Jamaica, the Seychelles, and Afghanistan. At the games, fans pin those they’ve collected onto a hat or the strap holding their Olympic credentials. As one fan walks by another, they look at each others’ pins and often one will ask where the other got a particular pin. From there, it’s onto trading and acquiring more pins. As the Games continue, fans try to either gather as many pins as possible or become selective as to the type of pins they want to collect.

The unwritten rule is to trade like pins for like pins. Of course, rules are meant to be broken and that’s the fun of it all. At the last Olympic Summer Games, fans were on the lookout for pins from Rio de Janeiro, the city to host the next Summer Games. At this Olympics, they’ll be on the lookout for pins from the next host city.

Somewhere in the host city, pin collectors representing pin collecting clubs from all over the world congregate to trade pins and stories. It won’t be any different in Rio. Also, hundreds of vendors set up tables to sell pins of every design and origin. Most of these cost about $5 each, so amassing a lot of them can cost a small fortune. The majority of people, however, acquire their pins by trading ones they have for ones they want.

Some collectors have over 30,000 pins in their collections. They’re always on the lookout for pins from the 1936 Berlin Games, a hot commodity in the pin collecting realm.

While it may seem that the only people trading pins are fans and athletes, everyone involved with the Olympics, from the members of the IOC to newspaper reporters, volunteers, judges, and coaches, all get involved.

It used to be that all you needed to do to begin collecting pins was to show up at the Olympics, find some pins and start trading. But today, beginning collectors can find thousands of pins online and while the fun of trading may not be there, the ability to collect just about any pin, even the important ones, is there—for a price.

Pin collecting is affordable and the little darlings don’t take up much room, so they’re ideal for anyone just starting out in collectibles. Searching the Internet for  “Olympic collectibles” will undoubtedly result in links for collecting pins.

An Israeli Olympic pin in the shape of a guitar from the Atlanta Games is today selling for $18 online. And while that same pin sells for a variety of prices, that’s not a bad return on investment. So let the pin games begin!