Wikipedia

Pyrex

Not to be confused with PUREX.
For the programming language, see Pyrex (programming language). For the rapper, see Pvrx.

Pyrex (trademarked as PYREX and pyrex) is a brand introduced by Corning Inc. in 1915, initially for a line of clear, low-thermal-expansion borosilicate glass used for laboratory glassware and kitchenware. It was later expanded in the 1930s to include kitchenware products made of soda–lime glass and other materials.[1]

A PYREX measuring cup manufactured c. 1980, featuring graduations in both U.S. and metric units

In 1998, the kitchenware division of Corning Inc. responsible for the development of Pyrex spun off from its parent company as Corning Consumer Products Company, subsequently renamed Corelle Brands. Corning Inc. no longer manufactures or markets consumer products, only industrial ones.

History

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PYREX glassware from Corning Inc.
 
Newspaper ad showing PYREX bakeware from 1922

Borosilicate glass was first made by German chemist and glass technologist Otto Schott, founder of Schott AG in 1893, 22 years before Corning produced the Pyrex brand. Schott AG sells the product under the name "Duran".

In 1908, Eugene Sullivan, director of research at Corning Glass Works, developed Nonex, a borosilicate low-expansion glass, to reduce breakage in shock-resistant lantern globes and battery jars. Sullivan had learned about Schott's borosilicate glass as a doctoral student in Leipzig, Germany. Jesse Littleton of Corning discovered the cooking potential of borosilicate glass by giving his wife Bessie Littleton a casserole dish made from a cut-down Nonex battery jar. Corning removed the lead from Nonex and developed it as a consumer product.[2] Pyrex made its public debut in 1915 during World War I, positioned as an American-produced alternative to Duran.

A Corning executive gave the following account of the etymology of the name "Pyrex":

The word PYREX is probably a purely arbitrary word which was devised in 1915 as a trade-mark for products manufactured and sold by Corning Glass Works. While some people have thought that it was made up from the Greek pyr and the Latin rex, we have always taken the position that no graduate of Harvard would be guilty of such a classical hybrid. Actually, we had a number of prior trade-marks ending in the letters ex. One of the first commercial products to be sold under the new mark was a pie plate, and in the interests of euphonism the letter r was inserted between pie and ex and the whole thing condensed to PYREX.[3]

Corning purchased the Macbeth-Evans Glass Company in 1936 and their Charleroi, PA plant was used to produce Pyrex opal ware bowls and bakeware made of tempered soda–lime glass.[4] In 1958 an internal design department was started by John B. Ward. He redesigned the Pyrex ovenware and Flameware. Over the years, designers such as Penny Sparke, Betty Baugh, Smart Design, TEAMS Design, and others have contributed to the design of the line.

 
Pyrex casserole dish with the 'Toledo' pattern

Corning divested itself of the Corning Consumer Products Company (now known as Corelle Brands) in 1998 and production of consumer Pyrex products went with it. Its previous licensing of the name to Newell Cookware Europe remained in effect.[5]

France-based cookware maker Arc International acquired Newell's European business in early 2006[6] to own rights to the brand in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.[7][8] In 2007, Arc closed the Pyrex soda–lime factory in Sunderland, UK moving all European production to France. The Sunderland factory had first started making Pyrex in 1922.[9]

In 2014, Arc International sold off its Arc International Cookware division which operated the Pyrex business to Aurora Capital for its Resurgence Fund II. The division was renamed the International Cookware group.[10] London-based private equity firm Kartesia[11] purchased International Cookware in 2020.[12]

In 2021, Pyrex rival Duralex was acquired by International Cookware group for €3.5 million (US$4.2m).[13][14][15]

In March 2019, Corelle Brands, the makers of Pyrex in the United States, merged with Instant Brands, the makers of the Instant Pot.[16] On June 12, 2023, Instant Brands filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after high interest rates and waning access to credit hit its cash position and made its debts unsustainable.[17] The company emerged from bankruptcy on February 27, 2024 under the previous Corelle Brands moniker, after having sold off its appliance business ("Instant" branded products).[18][19]

Trademark

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In Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, a variation of the PYREX (all uppercase) trademark is licensed by International Cookware[20] for bakeware that has been made of numerous materials including borosilicate and soda–lime glass, stoneware, metal, plus vitroceramic cookware.[21] The pyrex (all lowercase, introduced in 1975[22]) trademark is now used for kitchenware sold in the United States, South America, and Asia.[23] In the past, the brand name has also been used for kitchen utensils and bakeware by other companies in regions such as Japan and Australia.

It is a common misconception that the logo style alone indicates the type of glass used to manufacture the bakeware.[24] Additionally, Corning's introduction of soda-lime-glass-based Pyrex in the 1940s predates the introduction of the all lowercase logo by nearly 30 years.[25][22][26]

Composition

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A clear tempered pyrex soda–lime glass measuring cup produced by Instant Brands (left, differentiated by its different logo and bluish tint), and a clear borosilicate glass PYREX measuring cup produced by Corning (right)

Older clear-glass Pyrex manufactured by Corning, Arc International's Pyrex products, and Pyrex laboratory glassware are made of borosilicate glass. According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, borosilicate Pyrex is composed of (as percentage of weight): 4.0% boron, 54.0% oxygen, 2.8% sodium, 1.1% aluminum, 37.7% silicon, and 0.3% potassium.[27][28]

According to glass supplier Pulles and Hannique, borosilicate Pyrex is made of Corning 7740 glass and is equivalent in formulation to Schott Glass 8330 glass sold under the "Duran" brand name.[29] The composition of both Corning 7740 and Schott 8330 is given as 80.6% SiO2, 12.6% B2O3, 4.2% Na2O, 2.2% Al2O3, 0.1% CaO, 0.1% Cl, 0.05% MgO, and 0.04% Fe2O3.

In the late 1930s and 1940s, Corning also introduced new product lines under the Pyrex brand using different types of glass. Opaque tempered soda–lime glass was used to create decorated opal ware bowls and bakeware, and aluminosilicate glass was used for Pyrex Flameware stovetop cookware. The latter product had a bluish tint caused by the addition of alumino-sulfate.[30][31]

Beginning in the 1980s, production of clear Pyrex glass products manufactured in the USA by Corning was also shifted to tempered soda–lime glass, like their popular opal bakeware.[25] This change was justified by stating that soda–lime glass has higher mechanical strength than borosilicate—making it more resistant to physical damage when dropped, which is believed to be the most common cause of breakage in glass bakeware. The glass is also cheaper to produce and more environmentally friendly. Its thermal shock resistance is lower than borosilicate's, leading to potential breakage from heat stress if used contrary to recommendations. Since the closure of the soda–lime plant in England in 2007, European Pyrex has been made solely from borosilicate.[5][32][33]

The differences between Pyrex-branded glass products has also led to controversy regarding safety issues—in 2008, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reported it had received 66 complaints by users reporting that their Pyrex glassware had shattered over the prior ten years yet concluded that Pyrex glass bakeware does not present a safety concern. The consumer affairs magazine Consumer Reports investigated the issue and released test results, in January 2011, confirming that borosilicate glass bakeware was less susceptible to thermal shock breakage than tempered soda lime bakeware.[34] They admitted their testing conditions were "contrary to instructions" provided by the manufacturer.[31][35] STATS analyzed the data available and found that the most common way that users were injured by glassware was via mechanical breakage, being hit or dropped, and that "the change to soda lime represents a greater net safety benefit."[32]

Use in telescopes

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Pyrex glass used on the mirror of the Hale Telescope

Because of its low expansion characteristics, borosilicate glass is often the material of choice for reflective optics in astronomy applications.

In 1932, George Ellery Hale approached Corning with the challenge of fabricating the 200-inch (5.1 m) telescope mirror for the California Institute of Technology's Palomar Observatory project.[36] A previous effort to fabricate the optic from fused quartz had failed, with the cast blank having voids. The mirror was cast by Corning during 1934–1936 out of borosilicate glass.[37] After a year of cooling, during which it was almost lost to a flood, the blank was completed in 1935. The first blank now resides in the Corning Museum of Glass.[38]

See also

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Citations

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  1. ^ "A CENTURY OF PYREX". Corning Museum of Glass. November 24, 2014.
  2. ^ Corning Pyrex Bakeware, Carroll M. Gantz, Design Chronicles: Significant Mass-produced Designs of the 20th Century, Schiffer Publications, Ltd. 2005
  3. ^ Mathews, MM (1957). "title unknown". American Speech. 32 (4): 290.
  4. ^ "Macbeth-Evans Glass Company | ArchivesSpace Public Interface". archivesspace.cmog.org. Retrieved 2022-10-16.
  5. ^ a b "Manufacturing History". Pyrex Products. Archived from the original on 2 October 2011. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  6. ^ "Arc International page". Hoover's. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  7. ^ Hibberd, Susan (2007). The Little Book of Collectable British Pyrex. Exposure Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84685-556-6.
  8. ^ "Glass Ovenware". Arc International. 2005. Archived from the original on 2008-03-11. Retrieved 2008-03-17.
  9. ^ "BBC Inside Out -". www.bbc.co.uk.
  10. ^ Group, Aurora Capital. "Aurora Capital Group Completes Acquisition of Arc International Cookware". www.prnewswire.com (Press release). {{cite press release}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  11. ^ "Jaime Prieto - Kartesia". informaconnect.com. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  12. ^ "Aurora Resurgence has sold International Cookware to Kartesia". Lincoln International LLC. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  13. ^ AFP (2021-01-29). "French glassmaker Duralex purchased by rival". DAWN.COM. Retrieved 2021-01-29.
  14. ^ "Pyrex completes acquisition of Duralex". Glass International. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  15. ^ Whitten, Zoe (31 January 2021). "International Cookware, Pyrex's parent company, takes over Duralex". Glass Online. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
  16. ^ Gottfried, Miriam (March 3, 2019). "Owners of Instant Pot, Corelle to Merge; Combined company would have enterprise value of more than $2 billion". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved June 23, 2023.
  17. ^ "Instant Pot and Pyrex Maker Instant Brands Files for Bankruptcy". Yahoo Finance. June 12, 2023. Retrieved June 12, 2023.
  18. ^ Brands, Instant. "Instant Brands Provides Update on Sale Process for its Appliance Business". www.prnewswire.com. Retrieved 2024-03-21.
  19. ^ "Instant Brands emerges from chapter 11 as Corelle Brands | Davis Polk". www.davispolk.com. 2024-03-01. Retrieved 2024-03-21.
  20. ^ "Kartesia participates in the aquisition [sic] of International Cookware, the leading kitchenware manufacturer under the Pyrex® brand in EMEA". www.kartesia.com. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  21. ^ EU, Pyrex® Webshop. "Pyrex® Webshop EU". Pyrex® Webshop EU. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  22. ^ a b "Pyrex 1975 Dealer Catalog. Corning, N.Y: Corning Glass Works". cmog.primo.exlibrisgroup.com. Retrieved 2022-11-20.
  23. ^ "Shop Pyrex Kitchenware | Official Website | Pyrex". www.pyrexhome.com. Retrieved 2023-06-23.
  24. ^ "How are MacBeth-Evans and Monax related to Opal Pyrex and Corelle? - Dates & Details for Collectors of Corelle, Pyrex, Corning Ware & Centura". 2015-02-18. Archived from the original on 2015-02-18. Retrieved 2023-08-30.
  25. ^ a b Aikins, Jim. "Setting the Record Straight: The Truth About PYREX". Pyrex Products. Archived from the original on 26 October 2011. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  26. ^ "That Viral 'PYREX' Brand Hack Is Horseshit, Folks". Lifehacker. 2023-02-27. Retrieved 2023-08-26.
  27. ^ "Composition of Pyrex Glass". National Institute of Standards and Technology. Retrieved September 8, 2016.
  28. ^ "How Pyrex is Made". MadeHow.com. n.d.
  29. ^ "Borosilicate glass". Archived from the original on 15 March 2012. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  30. ^ "PYREX Flameware". The Antique Attic. Archived from the original on January 4, 2011. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  31. ^ a b "Exploding Pyrex, Urban Legend reference". Snopes.com. 18 September 2009. Retrieved 2011-01-08.
  32. ^ a b Butterworth, Trevor (14 October 2009). "Exploding the exploding Pyrex rumor". STATS. Statistical Assessment Service. Archived from the original on 20 November 2014. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  33. ^ Consumer Reports Breaks A Lot Of Glass Investigating Shattering Pyrex Bakeware Archived 2012-05-14 at the Wayback Machine, The Consumerist
  34. ^ Estes, Adam Clark (March 16, 2019). "The Pyrex Glass Controversy That Just Won't Die". Gizmodo. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
  35. ^ "FOIA requests examine glass bakeware that shatters". Consumer Reports. Archived from the original on 6 December 2011. Retrieved 7 February 2012.
  36. ^ "The Glass Giant". Corning Museum of Glass. Retrieved 30 January 2015.
  37. ^ "A History of Palomar Observatory". Palomar Observatory. California Institute of Technology. 28 May 2015. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  38. ^ "200-inch Disk". Corning Museum of Glass. Retrieved 30 January 2015.

General and cited references

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  • Bradt, R. C.; Martens, R. L. (September 2012). "Shattering Glass Cookware" (PDF). American Ceramic Society Bulletin. 91 (7): 35–41. ISSN 0002-7812. OCLC 302290362. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
    • DeGuire, Ellen (September 11, 2012). "New Paper Addresses Causes of Shattering Glass Cookware; Margin of Safety Described as 'Borderline'" (Press release). American Ceramic Society. Retrieved 2012-09-17. Their investigation confirmed the borosilicate glass would withstand a much larger rapid temperature change. According to their calculation and those of others, soda lime glass cookware shatters more frequently because, in theory, it can only resist fracture stress for temperature differentials less than about 55 °C (99 °F). In contrast, they estimate that the borosilicate glassware could tolerate a temperature differential of about 183 °C (330 °F), a three-fold difference.
  • Gantz, Carroll (2001). Design Chronicles: Significant Mass-produced Products of the 20th Century. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7643-2223-5. OCLC 58729534.
  • Rogove, Susan Tobier; Steinhauer, Marcia B. (1993). Pyrex by Corning: A Collector's Guide. Marietta, Ohio: Antique Publications. ISBN 0-915410-94-X. OCLC 28440879.
  • Rogove, Susan Tobier (2016). More Pyrex by Corning: A Collector's Guide. Photography: Jay Kogut Photography. Pennsauken, NJ: BookBaby. ISBN 9781483586465. OCLC 963732418.
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