California Faience

Chauncey R. Thomas and William V. Bragdon started the art pottery firm of Thomas & Bragdon in Berkeley, California, in 1916 and renamed it The Tile Shop in 1922. The pottery formally became California Faience in 1924, although the mark California Faience was used before that. The company cast some art pottery that was covered […]

Batchelder Tile Company

Ernest Allen Batchelder started Batchelder Tile Company, an Arts and Crafts-style workshop in Pasadena, California, in 1909. The first tiles he made were for his own home. In 1912 the company was renamed Batchelder and Brown, and in 1920 the renamed Batchelder-Wilson Company moved to Los Angeles. Batchelder made wall and floor tiles, fountains, door […]

Beaver Falls Art Tile Company

Francis William Walker started the Beaver Falls Art Tile Company in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, in 1886. The company made plain, embossed, and intaglio tiles, plus tiles specially made to decorate stoves. Walker’s pale blue, green, purple, and other pastel glazes were unusually free from crazing. Isaac Broome, a noted designer, joined the company in 1890. […]

California Art Tile Company

James White Hislop founded the Clay Glow Tile Company in Richmond, California, in 1922, then renamed it California Art Tile Company (Cal Art) the following year. Cal Art tiles in the California Arts and Crafts style have a matte finish with muted colors and earth tones. They are decorated with birds, plants, knights, ships, and […]

American Encaustic Tiling Company

American Encaustic Tiling Company was founded in 1875 in Zanesville, Ohio. The company made inlaid floor tiles with geometric designs, large custom-made relief tiles, imitation mosaic tiles, souvenir tiles, and tiles with raised classical designs. Frederick Rhead, who had worked at the Vance/Avon Faience Pottery, Weller Pottery, Roseville Pottery, Jervis Pottery, University City Pottery, and […]

Other Kitchenware

Other names on collectible kitchenware made of glass, ceramic, and plastic include: Anchor Hocking’s Fire-King glassware, Fry Glass Company’s Oven Glass, Hall China Company’s refrigerator and oven wares (made for Westinghouse, Sears, Montgomery Ward, Hotpoint, and General Electric), Homer Laughlin’s Fiesta Kitchen Craft line of bake-and-serve pieces, McKee Glass Company’s kitchenware, Watt Pottery’s various patterns […]

Famous Kitchen Firsts

Year Invented 1908 electric coffee percolator 1909 electric toaster 1910 electric mixer 1911 electric skillet 1913 electric refrigerator 1915 Pyrex 1926 electric steam iron 1927 stainless steel cookware 1935 food waste disposer (the Disposall) 1936 automatic dishwasher 1937 automatic clothes washer 1945 Tupperware 1954 microwave oven 1956 toaster oven 1958 electric can opener Photo: eBay

Hoosier Cabinets

Between the time of freestanding or wall-hung cabinets and the arrival of built-ins came the Hoosier cabinet, a creative piece invented by an Indiana man named J. S. McQuinn. The Hoosier cabinet is a large, freestanding unit with bins for dry ingredients like flour and sugar, a tin (later porcelain) work surface, and drawers and […]

Italian Design for the Home – Alessi

The stainless steel kettle with a blue plastic handle and a red bird whistling on the spout and the corkscrew that looks like a smiling woman with levers for arms were designed for and made by Alessi. The Italian company was founded in 1921 to make metal products for eating and drinking. At first, the […]

Kitchen Utensils

Thousands of small kitchen utensils were manufactured during the 1900s. Some collectors specialize in a special kitchen tool—an eggbeater, spatula, corkscrew, or bottle opener. Others might want anything with a Bakelite or green wooden handle. Bakelite, a phenol-formaldehyde resin and an early synthetic plastic, was invented in 1907 by chemist Leo Baekeland. He patented the […]