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The economics of small business: when a business is a passion

By on March 9, 2017 in Interesting, Memorabilia, RevereWareParts.com, Small business

I often wonder why I do some much for this business when it doesn’t always make economic sense.

Not every business is a profit hungry capitalist empire.  Many small business owners are in business because they are really committed to and passionate about what they do.

Pure capitalism demands that you make logical decisions about revenue and profit margins and only enter a line of business or stay in it when it makes enough money.  But many small business owners got into business not because they wanted to make a lot of money (although making money is nice) but because they felt a need to provide a product or service that they felt people really need.

Often, when this is the case, small business owners do a lot more for their business, in terms of time and money, than the typical business might.

Take our business for example.  We started making replacement parts for Revere Ware, well, because we wanted them, and were frustrated that we couldn’t get them.  Without new parts, our perfectly good 60 year old cookware was useless.  We blindly hoped that there were many others out there that felt the same way we did.

And there are.  We’ve not sure how much we’ve contributed to the rise in popularity of vintage Revere Ware, as evidenced by the increasingly growing numbers of Revere Ware cookware for sale on eBay since we started selling our replacement parts, but we’d like to think we’ve helped people get more pleasure and years more use out of their Revere Ware.

But small business isn’t always about good sense or dollars and cents; sometimes it is about becoming a positive force in that which you feel passionate about.  Small business owners who are passionate about their business will often go much farther than other business owners to provide a good product and service for others interested in what their business is about.

To that end, we’ve spent a lot of time doing things like, organizing all the Revere Ware for sale on eBay so you can easily find what you need, painstakingly searching for and scanning vintage instructions and other materials so we can to help you better understand your cookware, providing DIY how-to guides to help you fix your broken cookware, collecting historical materials, recipes, and such, continuing to add more parts to our catalog because people are asking for them, and spending hours answering questions that often have nothing to do with making a sale.

Economically, this business might not make sense.  With day jobs, small children, and a house under construction, making the time to answer questions or deal with negative feedback on Amazon.com is not always easy.  Our time might be better spent elsewhere.

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Issues with Revere Ware lid knobs

By on February 14, 2017 in Uncategorized

Lid knob

Issues with replacing Revere Ware lid knobs are probably the most frequent thing we get asked about, and, much to our frustration, one of the most frequent reasons for returns and negative feedback.  We figure it is helpful to review all the issues and solutions we’ve come across.

Our knobs are made for Revere Ware

First and foremost, the knobs we sell are only for Revere Ware lids.  Revere Ware lids have a screw attached permanently, and thus, don’t need a screw.  We often get negative reviews for not including a screw.  If you want to use our knobs on other cookware, you can, you’ll simply have get a screw yourself from a local hardware store.    You’ll need an 8/32 machine screw made of either brass or stainless steel that is between .25 and .35 inches long.

Revere Ware knobs and screws can rust

Sometimes, a Revere Ware screw can come off the lid.  Usually, this is due to rust.  The screw on a Revere Ware lid is made of stainless steel.  Over the years the Revere Ware original knobs have had various types of metal inserts inside of them with the threads, some of which were aluminum.  Putting dissimilar metals in contact with each other can cause galvanic corrosion, and the with the Revere Ware stainless screws and (mainly) aluminum lid knob nut inserts, this often happens.

When the screw and nut insert rust to each other, rust can often get between the bottom of the screw, where it is welded to the lid, weakening the junction.  Simply trying to unscrew the knob from the lid can break the screw off of the lid, leaving the lid with no screw.  Heating the lid slightly at the point of the knob screw from underneath (such as placing it over a low gas flame) might help loosen a stubborn nut and screw.

If that happens, have no fear, it is an easy fix requiring only a drill and a new screw from your local hardware store.  You can find the instructions here.

Bakelite can deteriorate, leaving the screw insert on the lid

This is the number one issue we have.  Bakelite is brittle by nature, and over time, especially if it has been repeatedly washed in a dishwasher, the nut insert can come loose from the inside of the lid knob and stay attached to the lid.

We have a more extensive blog post describing this problem here.

The solution is to simply grab the insert with some pliers and unscrew it.  In some cases, if the insert and screw are well rusted together, the screw will break off. See the section above on rust; as mentioned above, heating the lid slightly at the point of the knob screw from underneath (such as placing it over a low gas flame) might help loosen a stubborn nut and screw to avoid pulling the screw off the lid.

The new knob can be hard to screw on

Because of the rust issue (see above), a screw can be left with some corrosion on it that can muddy the threads.  Additionally, manufacturing tolerances may have varied over the years such that some screws are just slightly bigger (despite having the same specification).  In both cases, a knob can be hard to screw on.

If you see some corrosion on the screw, spraying a little WD-40 on it will help loosen the rust and allow the new knob to screw on.  If it is just hard to screw on, adding a little oil of any time (one customer used olive oil) will help the knob screw onto the threads.

Occasionally, we do have defects

Lastly, on rare occasions we’ve seen a knob nut insert that simply didn’t have the threads.  If this is the case, we are happy to replace the defective knob, just contact us.  This is pretty rare though; we’ve seen three of these in tens of thousands of knobs sold.

 

 

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Revere Ware detective work – process patent drip coffee pot

By on November 16, 2016 in Uncategorized

We get quite a few questions about the history or age of a particular Revere Ware item. Often, information is thin and it is hard to nail down something like age with any certainty.

Recently, customer Diane asked:

I have stainless steel, copper clad, drip pot that has a patent number of 2272609. Can you tell me the age of this particular piece of Revere Ware?

Based on the work of Charlie Anjard, who compiled the best Revere Ware historical information we have (see history, vintage & process patent, and the photo guide), we know that the process patent stamp identifies cookware that was made between 1939 and 1968.

process patent stamp

We have collected a number of Revere Ware related ads, catalogs, instructions, and brochures over the years.  The earliest piece we could find that showed the drop coffee maker was the Revere’s Guide to Better Cooking, from 1941.

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We also have catalogs dated 1953, 1955, 1961, and 1966 that show the drop coffee maker.

In this case, it seems that the piece could have been made anywhere between 1941 and 1966 definitively, and quite possible for the entire period from 1939 to 1968.

One other thing that is notable is that, according to Charlie’s photo guide, Revere stopped making the drop coffee pot in the late 1970’s.  From 1968 through the late 70’s they would have been made without the process patent stamp on the bottom.

 

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World Kitchen unwraps the new Revere Ware site

By on October 20, 2016 in History, Interesting

For a couple of months the revereware.com URL has been shrouded in mystery, with the following message on the site:

revere_website

They recently unveiled their new site.

new_revere_site

They still offer the same limited selection of the classic copper bottom Revere Ware; that hasn’t changed.  They do now show a nice little history of the Revere brand (or perhaps we never noticed that before in their confusing and cluttered site with many brands).

All the hubub seems to be about two new lines they are offering (press release).  The two new lines are the Revere Copper Confidence Core Stainless Steel Cookware and the Revere Clean Pan Hard Anodized Aluminum Non-Stick Cookware.  Both lines include a new feature called Nest&Protect, which looks like this:

revere-nest-protect-example

The hanging hooks for the handles can be hooked over the lower handle to keep the insides of the pots from touching, so as to prevent the outside of the top pot from scratching the inside of the pot it sites inside.

My immediate reaction on this feature is two-pronged:

  • For stainless steel cookware, this isn’t really a problem.  The insides of cookware are going to get scratched and dulled from the likes of acidic food and metal utensils.  And being able to use an abrasive scrubber, like a Scotch Brite pad, is very helpful at times.  I tend to prefer the inside of my cookware to have a uniform dull finish, which is how it always ends up.
  • I am imagining the hassle of always having to unhook those handles to get at the one at the bottom or in the center.

These two lines may be otherwise interesting, but I don’t think Nest&Protect would be a reason for me to buy them.

The other thing that comes to mind is World Kitchen’s long history of producing inferior cookware, opting to lower costs and wring profit by offering a very cheap product while capitalizing on any value left in storied brand names. For example, their picture above of the nested pan cutaways shows very very thin stainless steel on the sides, and, while the bottom does appear to be a bit thicker, I’m not seeing any actual copper in the copper core cookware.

So, I remain a skeptic as to the quality of the new lines.

I was personally hoping that they might improve and expand the classic Revere Ware line they offer, from the very low quality bar it currently meets and the very limited selection.

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Replacement lids

By on September 24, 2016 in Uncategorized

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One of the most common questions we get is whether we carry replacement lids for such and such a size Revere Ware piece.

We don’t carry any lids (just the knobs), and the official source for Revere Ware, World Kitchen, sells all of one of the traditional copper bottom lid sizes now.

The solution is to tap into the robust marked for used Revere Ware lids on eBay.  We’ve had an eBay helper site for Revere Ware cookware for a number of years now; it separates listings on eBay out by type and size, and is updated every 30 minutes.

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On the front page, we show a graph of the number of listings for Revere Ware items since 2009, which continues to grow; there is a very robust marketplace on eBay for just about anything Revere Ware.

When it comes to lids, there are a couple of considerations.  Here is our help text at the top of our lid listings page:

To find the right lid for your cookware, choose a size that is listed with measurements the same size or slightly smaller than the inside diameter of your cookware. Revere Ware lids are usually just slightly smaller than the cookware they fit. eBay listers will show this as anywhere from 1/16″ to 1/4 inch smaller than your cookware diameter. Very few Revere Ware pots in our experience have a diameter that is NOT a whole inch; exceptions we have found include a 6 1/4″ skillet (that takes a 6″ lid) and 5 1/2″ saucepans. However, based on auction listing we’ve seen, there do appear to be 6.5″ and 7.5″ sizes as well.

For example, lids listed measuring 5.25 (5 1/4), 5.3125 (5 5/16), 5.375 (5 3/8), 5.4375 (5 7/16), and 5.5 (5 1/2) inches are all probably the same size measured slightly differently by different sellers and should all fit a sauce pot with a 5.5″ inside diameter.

Which brings up another point – people typically ask, “do you have a lid for a 2 quart sauce pan.”  That is a hard question to answer, given that Revere Ware altered the dimensions of their sauce pans and pots many times over the years.  A 2 quart pot can come in one of several diameters.

Use the instructions above to find the correct size.

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What is Revere Ware (aka World Kitchen) up to?

By on July 21, 2016 in Interesting

The Revere Ware brand has been owned for at least a couple of decades by World Kitchen, which owns a number of other formerly iconic brands, like Pyrex, Cornigware, and EKCO. World Kitchen seems to specialize in buying formerly popular vintage brands and selling very cheap knockoffs under the brand name.

Today, something is up with their Revere site.  If you go to the World Kitchen Website and select the Revere brand, everything seems normal:

revere_website_world_kitchen

 

If you previously went to the revereware.com, it would simply redirect you to the above Revere brand page of the World Kitchen website.  However, now, it shows as follows:

revere_website

Just what are they up to?

The Revere Brand has languished over the decades, with a minimal selection of very poor quality cookware.  It was not uncommon to hear stories about the mostly symbolic copper layer wearing off, or completely falling off.  The only piece we could recommend was the tea kettle, as that seems to be a pretty simple piece that doesn’t depend on the thickness of the metal like pots, pans, and skillets do.  All the other cookware was made to be thrown away after a few years (although they still honored a 25 year warranty on the copper bottom cookware).

Could they be planning a return to an actual quality product for the branded cookware?

Update 8/4/16

The revereware.com site still has the above message, but in a new twist, World Kitchens site no longer lists the Revere Ware brand on its main page, and using the sites search feature no longer brings up Revere Ware results.

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The Revere Ware FAQ page and Revere Ware product page are still available via direct link though, and their brands page does still include the Revere brand.

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Examining different Revere Ware lid styles

By on June 16, 2016 in History

Customer Joseph writes to us with the following question:

I bought a set of pre-1968 Revere Ware on E-Bay and one of the sauce pan lids is different from the rest. I’ve attached a link to pictures of two 7 inch lids.  You can see that the one on the right is shallower than the one on the left. All of the other lids have the same design as the one on the left and fit perfectly. The one on the right fits somewhat sloppy. Did Revere Ware change the lids and did we end up with a later model lid?

IMG_3478

 

The historical information on lids is very fuzzy.  From looking through the Revere Ware photo guide I was able to identify that early Revere Ware lids were called vapor seal and had a tight fit to the cookware for “water-less cooking” which was popular at the time.  I believe both a high domed lid and a tight fit were essential for this type of cooking.

With the cheapening of the cookware in the lats 1960’s, it makes perfect sense that they would move to a construction that was cheaper to manufacture and there are a couple of things about the construction of the shorter lid that seem to indicate this

– The lack of the little lip on the lid would one less step in the manufacturing process
– The shorter size would require less metal

So, my theory is that sometime in the late 1960’s they switched to the cheaper construction. That is approximately when the construction of Revere Ware cookware changed to reducing the overall  amount of metal in the pans (about half the amount of copper and stainless steel) and moved from the two-screw style handle to the single screw style handle,  so a change in the lid also makes perfect sense.

If anyone has additional (or contradictory) information on the different lid styles, please respond to this post.

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Mystery copper bowls

By on June 15, 2016 in History, Interesting

Customer Lois contacted us looking for information about these beautiful Revere Ware copper bowls.

My family was stationed at Griffiss AFB, Rome, NY 1962-1966. Given that I believe my mother may have bought them then, but do not know for sure.  There are six of them. Weigh about 9.5 oz ea. Six inch diameter. One and a half inches high. Someone in the past scratched the inside surface of one of them to prove they were solid copper. The red interior finish could be lacquered?

IMG_0363IMG_0359

I’ve never seen anything like them and we were unable to find any historical information about them.

If you have any information about what line these belonged to, when they were produced, what the red finish on the inside might be, or anything else regarding these bowls, please contact us.

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Stainless steel and heat tint

By on May 24, 2016 in Care, Interesting, Tips

Belfast-20130415-00284

If you’ve ever overheated your stainless steel cookware (like almost all Revere Ware) you’ve seen that rainbow tint discoloration that stainless steel can take on. This isn’t something you can simply wash off.   This discoloration is called heat tint.

Stainless steel works (keep from rusting) due to the addition of small amount of chromium int the steel mixture. (Note that this is a type of chromium that the body needs in trace amounts, not the hexavalent chromium of the type featured in the move Erin Brockovich.)  The Chromium oxidizes and forms a thin layout on the outside of the stainless steel which keeps the iron from rusting.  The nice thing about stainless steel is that this layer is self repairing; if you damage it, more chromium is exposed to air and oxidizes to form a new protective layer.

However, it seems that under high heat, parts of the stainless steel can form a thicker chrome oxide layer. Chrome oxide layers of different thicknesses will show different colors.

In short, the rainbow tint is completely harmless, if not annoying.  The best suggestion we’ve seen to remove it is to use a stainless steel cleaner like Bar Keepers Friend to polish the outside of the cookware.

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