The Corning Museum of Glass presents America's Favorite Dish: Celebrating a Century of Pyrex, the first exhibition devoted to the iconic cookware. Organized in honor of the 100th anniversary of the 1915 invention of Pyrex, the exhibition will feature a wide range of objects and materials — from the first pie dish to the famed stackable measuring cup redesigned in 1983, as well as advertisements and ephemera, like product cookbooks and catalogs. The exhibition shows how this common household product, born out of scientific discoveries in glass, was shaped not only by designers and engineers but also by women consumers around the country. 

"The history of Pyrex reflects the history of the United States in the 20th century," said Kelley Elliott, co-curator of the exhibition and assistant curator of modern and contemporary glass at The Corning Museum of Glass. "As the country changed, so did Pyrex. New glass formulas were developed for evolving home technologies, marketing and sales strategies adapted to women’s changing roles in the home and workplace, and Pyrex patterns and advertisements changed to reflect fashions, décor, and world events from the past century."

The origins of Pyrex can be traced to the production of temperature-resistant borosilicate glass for railroad lantern globes by Corning Glass Works (now Corning Incorporated). This new glass was used for several products that required temperature-resistant glass.  Only a few years later, Corning began to explore using this glass for housewares, marketing their new brand of glass housewares as Pyrex. 

At the same time Corning introduced Pyrex, home economics was emerging as a profession. From its introduction, Corning Glass Works embraced the idea of using these new domestic professionals to test and promote Pyrex. The company hired Sarah Tyson Rorer, an editor at Ladies' Home Journal, and Mildred Maddocks of the Good Housekeeping Institute, to promote the brand through cooking demonstrations at department stores around the country. In 1929, Corning hired full-time home economist and scientist, Lucy Maltby, to manage the company's new consumer services office. By 1931, Maltby had established a Test Kitchen at Corning Glass Works, designed to evaluate new products before they were put on the market. 

The first advertisement for Pyrex by Corning; Good Housekeeping Magazine, October 1915