I don't know...
Barry, it looks quite utilitarian and sterile to me and not so modern or timeless as I would expect to label as "the most classic modern 20th century cookware design"...lets keep looking! I know the Danes, Germans and Swiss had some great desgins, as far as americans maybe not at that time.
It won
a good design award. It's part of the Museum of Modern Art's collection. Here's what they wrote in the book "Landmarks of the Twentieth-Century Design":
Designed by W. Archibald Welden
"Simplifcation and streamlining revamped many cooking sets and small appliances during the 1930's, but few redesigns were as carefully considered and thoroughly engineered as that of the Revere Ware cooking utensils, introduced in 1938 and in production virtually unchanged."
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The 1930's through 1960's cookware had bakelite handles and there was a heftiness to the pieces.
The stuff nowadays have plastic handles and knobs, and the overall weight is much lighter.
The only piece is seems out of date is the fring pans, because they do not have a non-stick surface.
But I use the saucepans and stock pots...there's nothing more durable, usable and easy to clean as Revere Ware.
Well,
there's modern Style, and there's good Design. A closer look puts this in the second category, I think; aside from the slightly swirled handle terminus, I think this is as good an offspring of the Bauhaus ideal, made practical for commercial production and consumer use, as we have seen. I grew up with a couple of these pieces in the family kitchen, and I can vouch for their quality and functionality. I remember a couple of saucepans and the percolater, at least.
I like that teakettle, don't you ? Could be 30's Northern European or Scandinavian, no ?
Nice heavy spun(?) and polished stainless, in dead-simple cylindrical shapes with a tight-rolled lip. . .what's not to like ?
I think perhaps my dad may have removed the hanging ring from the handle, as it was unnecessary in our kitchen and may have seemed redundant to him (and her ?). Of course, our frying pan was cast iron -- what else works so well, once it has a nice skin on it ?
SDR
revere ware
The little images in the brochure don'r do it justice. Hold a piece and it's quite stylish from the Archimedean curve in the handle to the smooth concentric ripples on the top handle. When the copper bottom is polished they are quite stunning. I have pieces I use regularly that I got from my mothers house. The same stuff I remember her using when I was a kid. Durable, well made and quite timeless. It's a very pre-war 1940's American version of "modern", it's out of the same modernist aesthetic that produced my house in 1939.
Don't forget Calphalon
not as old but still a wonderful product design and killer to cook with. I've been using mine since the mid-80's and I love them. Link to design history below
My Mom had the Reverware for years, I learned to cook with them. Wonderful stuff. She only ended up getting rid of them when she got an induction cook top, they were too old warped and dented to make good surface contact. She still sez she misses them.
http://www.calphalon.com/calphalon/consumer/jhtml/hist_1963.jhtml
Still have those
We still have some of the Revere cookware. Nice and practical cookware. We've used them for so long I can't comment on effectiveness vs other cookware, but our set has lasted decades!
Dansk enamelware is nice! A friend uses her set often and loves it. I have one cast-iron enamel yellow Descoware (not by Dansk) saucepan with wrap around art by Markley. Very hip! Post pics later.
I cook a lot...
And I wouldn't think of using this stuff to do anything but boil water to steam vegetables.
Griswold cast iron is vastly better for frying.
European enamelled cookware is better for baking and roasting.
A Hobbs tea kettle is better for boiling water.
Most any coffee pot can equal or exceed a Revereware coffee pot.
Contemporary no stick Calphalon is better for anything that wants to stick.
And if you just have a stainless steel fetish, Arne Jacobsen's stuff is brilliant aesthetically, where this stuff is pedestrian at best.
Not every thing that is long lived necessarily deserves to be.
Francisco Franco was one example. Revereware would be another.
P.S.: The above dissenting vote being cast, I am still quite happy for those who do find it too their liking. I have many intensely-liked things that are not deserving of being called great design. And when I mention them here, I too have to endure disagreement. There is always room for what we love in our lives, regardless of whether it is great design.
The painted stuff is nice
but it chips and over time, the bottoms get all grotty.
There's nothing better than stainless steel for long lasting life.
I use the old Revere Ware primarily for things that require a saucepan. I have a couple of larger Dutch Ovens and they're perfect for making soup.
I don't use the fry pans much...I prefer non-stick - I used Swiss Diamond.
As far as tea kettles, I use my old beat-up Revere. Like most of us in the US, I'm not impressed at electric boiling kettles. I fail to see the point if your gas stove (or should I call it a cooker) has a good flame.
Finally, Revere Ware has been produced continuously since 1938, although the new ones are light weight and have plastic handles and knobs, unlike the original bakelite ones.
My view....
I never used Revere Ware but I still see it around in my friends' homes. The bakelite is of course the weak part of the system and in most cases that I have seen it starts to ware off and become britle. I always admired the fact that they had the "courage" to show the copper allow on the bottom and to bend it up the curve between bottom and side. Most people do not realize that a recessed heat diffusing bottom reduces the heat diffusion considerably.
You might call it a lack of modesty, but I still consider the cookware I contributed to (the production technical talent came from the people at the factory) Demeyere's "Atlantis" an "Sirocco" line as the very best cookware produced now. I have some regrets about the fact that the handles, side handles and knobs of the Sirocco are not more consistant in style, but the goal, to provide the user with solid stainless steel handles that would keep cold (enough to hold with comfort)under all conditions excepting putting the cookware in the oven, was so important and innovative that we sacrifieced part of that style consistency to function. In that respect Atlantis is slightly better but the shapes are more traditional.
As for the other brands mentioned. I still think that any piece of enamelled steel is a demonstration of style over function. I like some of the Dansk, Arabia etc. but I would never want to use it.
Michael Lax for Copco (produced by Morso in Denmark)is another chapter. like Le Creuset the cast iron is so stable that the enamel does not chip as easely. The cooking is slow and Michael Lax's shapes are wonderfull...although one has to get used to not having central knobs to lift the lids. Personally I use the matt black enamel from Copco, now distributed by AGA in Europe. The black was always most popular in Europe while the coloured exteriors on white were very popular in the U.S. and Canada. Environmental legislation made the production of the coloured pieces very difficult, which started the decline of the Copco cookware in North America. Although the Le Creuset cookware was smartly made (the traditional burned orange that turned darker toward the edges was a smart way to hide all kind of production flaws in the enamel) I never really liked the traditional french shapes. So were clearly "borrowed" from white kitchen procelain and I can 't see a good reason to do that.
http://www.demeyere.be
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