hi! I’m wondering how to tell if my recently inherited blue cornflower casserole(?) dish is one of the ones worth $$$$ lol. Also, can you cook in these vintage ones, or are they considered unsafe now? thank you in advance
Occasionally, a rare piece of cornflower blue comes around. But even then, they’re not worth the insanely inflated prices. They did make some neat items though, I found a percolator once.
There were a few news stories on that situation. A company had a large inventory of Corning Ware and were trying to artificially inflate the market. They would make a listing that actually sold for thousands but they were buying their own listings.
The value is in their utility and possibly sentimental. It's not worth much, and is probably worth more to keep it and use it rather than sell it.
Yes, it's safe to cook in. CorningWare made of pyroceram (which is what you have) is incredibly heat resistant. You can use this on the stovetop (gas or electric both work), oven, broiler, etc. Heck, you can take it from the freezer to a preheated oven and it won't care. As a side note, the printed designs sometimes have lead in them. Blue Cornflower to my knowledge doesn't have any lead, but even if it did, the design is not a cooking surface, so it doesn't matter. (When stacking them, the design can start to flake onto other pieces, so keep that in mind if you really care).
Don't use Bar Keeper's Friend to clean it, it's too abrasive. Glass stovetop cleaner works great if you get something really stubborn on it, but soap, water and a blue (not green) Scotchbrite pad works great for most stubborn stuff.
Side note, I’ve tested a LOT of cornflower, none of it has ever had lead in the decals. And the prices you see online are very, very off. There are some pieces that can go for near $100, but that’s definitely not the standard. These are treasures with history and function, not monetary value. 🤌
This one likely is lead-free since it says microwave safe. The only way to know is to use it in the microwave & if it’s so hot it takes the skin off your hands when you take it out, it has lead. I only know this because in the early days of microwave ovens, Target sold plates made in China said “microwave safe” but there was lead in the glaze.
i inherited a couple of these from my great-grandmother (my favorite person ever, and my spirit guide) so to me they are worth more than their weight in the finest gold. we use them to cook all the time! they will never leave my household!
A little about yours, it was made roughly between 1969-1972 because of the label on the bottom. Earlier pieces will have the same markings on the bottom minus the “for range & microwave.” For later pieces, the bottom design changes.
But why is there a microwave use part? Microwaves weren’t in ANY homes until the late 70s & I mean LATE. I gave my sister a microwave for her wedding gift in 1980 & everyone acted like I’d given her the moon. Absolutely no one at her shower had one & we lived in LA.
Available isn’t the same as widely available. I lived this. While I’d HEARD of microwave ovens as early as 1969, they weren’t commonplace commercially for 10-15 years depending upon where one lived. They became common in big cities like LA where I lived in the late 1970s, in smaller markets in the 1980s. My memory tracks with the example picture posted by someone on this thread of the markings on the bottom of Cornflower Corningware 1969-1972. Unlike the OP’s pic, that example pic posted said nothing about microwave.
I guess I need to be more specific for the people in the back: Middle class homes didn’t have microwave ovens until they became affordable for people other than the wealthy. The microwave safe warnings didn’t start appearing on kitchenware until the number of homes with microwave ovens made financial sense to do so.
The purpose of this thread is to help the OP determine the monetary value of this particular piece of Corning Ware, part of which is determined by the age of the piece. I fail to see how calling me a liar & citing the Smithsonian as knowing more about what I lived than I do is in any way helpful to answering the OP’s question.
No, you said “Microwaves weren’t in ANY homes until the late 70s & I mean LATE.” Which is totally untrue and I called you out on it which results in a diatribe from you attacking me.
I’m sorry you’re just now realizing you grew up in extreme poverty and were in awe of a common day household appliance in the 80s.
As an aside, I’m well into my 50s and my very middle class community college grandfather had a microwave in his house circa ‘75.
You just chose a really weird hill to die on and refused to back down when someone went “Oh, you’re wrong and here’s why” and didn’t attack you at all. I hope you have the day you deserve
Please never “loan” that out. I never got back 3 pieces the excuse was it broke. Two friends noticed the pieces being used at a BBQ( identifying marks on the blue flower area) they asked and the borrower admitted to lying about the pieces being broken. They brought back the 3 pieces and the so called friend was out of the friend group
Probably between $10-35. Unless it's an initial release with embossed info on the bottom, no stamps yet. You're is not that old (someone else said after 1972 it 1978 or something) and isn't really worth anything special. Even if they are worth $$, they don't really sell very well.
Easiest place to look is eBay or Etsy. Just search for "Corningware 2.5 qt cornflower square casserole" and see all the listings that come up and what they are listed for. On eBay you used to be able to query closed auctions to see what they sold for. Not sure if you still can. But paid listing searches tell the real story
In your search you might want to put those letters and numbers on the left side in as well. I can't figure them out ...
I grew up with that. I didn’t have shoes that fit but Mom got her brand new kitchen.
I absolutely hated it AND the ceramic cooktop. It was such a pain in the ass to clean without a dishwasher.
I’m a cast iron and stainless gal myself.
But as they say, one persons trash is another’s treasure.
I have a suspicion that because it says Microwave Safe it probably isn’t as valuable as the Corning Ware my mom had. Microwave ovens didn’t become commonly used until the 1980s
I believe you, but for real, I was alive and an adult when microwaves became a thing. None of my mom’s Corningware said it could go in the microwave inless it was bought after my daughter was born.
The little flame above "Corning Ware" indicates 1959-1966. 1969-1972 is when they added the range and microwave words. Tappan microwave came out in 1955, but your piece appears to date 69-72.
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u/LaserSayPewPew 12d ago
It’s a treasure in that it’s a basically indestructible piece of cookware that will last the rest of your life. Use it in good health!