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Why Revere Ware

While the source of this “product review” looks like one of the spam sites that exists just to get better search engine results by copying and publishing other’s content, the content is mostly on point and I have yet to find another version of this that might be the original.

Revere Ware cookware is legendary for its design and functionality. It features unique copper bottoms on well-constructed stainless steel pots and pans. You may remember these pots and pans from your grandmother’s kitchen, but the Revere company has a much longer history. It was actually founded by Paul Revere himself. In 1801 he founded Revere Copper Company which provided copper parts for military ships, and it later transformed into a cookware company. In 1939 the famous copper-bottomed Revere Ware kitchenware was introduced. It was revolutionary at the time not only for having heat-diffusing copper on the bottom, but for the edges being rounded to make them easier to clean. Additionally, Revere Ware cookware was lighter and easier to handle in the kitchen than most pots and pans of that era. Its handles’ unique design was modeled after the handles of a silversmith’s hammer, a design that proved so popular that it has been copied by many other companies since. Today the Revere line of products upholds its famous legacy through quality construction, classic design and exquisite performance. It continues to make up 25% of the cookware market.

Revere Ware cookware’s hallmark copper bottoms are not simply an aesthetic choice. Copper is a metal that has superior heat conduction characteristics. It spreads heat from the burners of your stove quickly and evenly to the food in your pot or pan, reducing uneven cooking and scorching. It also cools more quickly than other metals to ensure your food is cooked only as long as you intended. In this way, the cook is given more control over heat than with pots and pans of other materials. This is why copper or copper-bottomed cookware has long been the preferred equipment for French cooking, which relies upon delicate sauces that cannot tolerate overcooking or undercooking. Copper has the added benefit of being lighter than many other metals, making it easier to manage in the kitchen.

Competitively priced, Revere Ware kitchenware is often chosen as a less expensive but equally high quality alternative to All Clad. It is durable and long lasting. Many a grandmother is still cooking on the Revere Ware kitchenware she received for her wedding, and it is not uncommon to find a kitchen containing Revere Ware that has been passed on for generations within the family. Because Revere products rarely warp, are resistant to breaking and cracking, and are easy to clean, they tend to stay in fantastic condition for many years.

I agree with everything above except the text in red.  I’m almost certain Revere Ware cookware does not make up 25% of the cookware market today, although this might have been true when this entry in the International Directory of Company Histories was published in 1998, which is perhaps where the author got that fact, now far out of date.

The Revere Ware copper bottom cookware on the market today is no where near the same quality as was made back in the day, pre-1968.  We have heard lots of stories of poor construction, such as copper bottoms that fall or or simply wear off from scrubbing after a few years.

As for the rest, it is a pretty good description of why perhaps hundreds of thousands or millions of people continue to use their vintage Revere Ware to this day; great design, quality construction, iconic appearance, and longevity.

 

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The Revere Ware era

This advertisement from Life Magazine in 1956 does a good job at characterizing the Revere Ware era, when it was most popular and extremely well made, and it contains some of my favorite pieces, including the domed Dutch Oven, the classic tea kettle, the coffer percolator, the square skillet, and the griddle.

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Mystery casserole pan

Customer Tony is curious about his unusual vintage Revere Ware pan.

It has the process patent stamp on the bottom so we know it is from before 1968.  Given the two handles, it appears to be some kind of casserole pan.  The holes seems to show that there might have been Bakelite handles on it.

We looked through all of our vintage catalogs, prices lists, brochures, and ads and haven’t seen anything that looks exactly like that.  Revere did make casserold pans with copper bottoms, but they did not have Bakelite handles and had sloped sides.

Has anyone ever seen these in original form, with Bakelite handles?

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Should you buy a new set of Revere Ware?

If you’ve read just about anything on our site, you likely know that the quality of today’s Revere Ware pales in comparison to that made in the pre-1968 era.  We’ve heard lots of stories of quality issues like the copper bottom falling off.  But let’s say you don’t care about the quality and just want a set of Revere Ware cookware because you like the look.  Is it cheaper to get a new set, or a used set from eBay.

Here is a new set on Amazon.com.

This set costs $95.55 with free Amazon Prime shipping an option if you are a Prime member.

Here is what we put together from eBay:

4.5 quart Dutch oven with lid: $33 shipped
9″ skillet with lid: $31 shipped
1.5 quart sauce pan with lid: $$20 shipped
1 quart sauce pan with lid: $20 shipped

That gives us a total of $104 shipped.  Withe the tax you’ll likely pay on Amazon.com, and the potential to find better deals on eBay (there are lot of Revere Ware pieces listed at any given time) we’ll call the costs roughly even.

If you wanted to replace all the handles and knobs, that would run you about another $50, although all the items we found on eBay had Bakelite handles and knobs that were in reasonable condition.

If you scoured your local thrift stores, you could likely find all the vintage Revere Ware items for much cheaper, but there is a time cost involved.

It seems to come down to preference – buy a set that will last a few years before it starts falling apart, or buy as set that will likely last many more decades and has a strong history to it.

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The history of Bakelite

I recently came across this great historical video from 1937 about Bakelite, which, apparently is not pronounced bake-lite, but bake-a-lite.  Apparently, in its day, Bakelite was quite the material and was (and might still be) used in quite a few industrial and consumer applications.  The use of Bakelite in cookware was just but one of its many uses.

In a number of places it shows the high pressure / temperature molding process with hydraulic presses; our parts are still made this way today, starting with a powder that is formed into the parts. For a little about the chemistry of Bakelite, here is another video.

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The Beauty and Pleasure of vintage revere ware

Customer Judy perfectly captured our thoughts on Revere Ware with this comment:

When I married in 1979 it was very hard to find Revere cookware. I know it was still being made, but it was not easy to find unless you lived in larger urban areas. My mother had (& still has) Revere. However, she wasn’t going to let me have it. When my last cookware needed replacing, I was in a pickle. I was fed up with imported junk and could not find anything I liked. Then, I came across a small used pot and bought it. It was love at first cook. Even with a ding and slight warp in the bottom, it cooked better than anything I have ever owned. Since then I have been a regular at second hand stores looking for Revere cookware. I love it. Today I found a skillet with double circle stamp. Someone once asked me it I was going to resell a piece that I had in my buggy. NEVER!

 

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Revere Ware brochure from 1965

We recently came across this Revere Ware brochure from 1965.

It comes folded like this.

We’ve seen things like this included in new Revere Ware that we’ve come across on eBay, still in the box, from the same era, so it seems likely this brochure came with a purchased piece of cookware.

What is interesting, is that it appears to be some kind of order form, showing some sets, and quite a few individual pieces.  Do you think someone could get away with calling a set the “Homemaker” set in this day and age?

Here they are a bit larger.

Wow, look at the Art Deco styling of that beverage server.  I’ll be on the lookout for one of those.

 

What is interesting is that, there are places to check off what one wants to order, but there are no prices, and no instructions on how to place and order.  I wonder exactly how one used this form?

To consider where this brochure falls in Revere Ware history, this is just 4 years before they changed the design, reducing the thickness of the copper and stainless steel, and made the cookware that much less effective.

Lastly, there is an bit about their cleaners.

The copper cleaner is pretty standard stuff. However, the stainless steel cleaner has me curious, with the statement “Easily removes stubborn discolorations and heat stains …”

If you’ve ever overheated stainless steel, you are probably familiar with the rainbow swirls you can get on the stainless steel, also sometimes called heat tint.  We recommend Bar Keepers Friend for dealing with that, but it isn’t perfect.  I wonder if their stainless steel cleaner was better.

 

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Mystery “B” stamp on lids

Customer Rachelle contacted us with a question about the meaning of a B stamp in the middle underside of a couple of her lids.

These are lids that otherwise look exactly like the standard lids for the typical copper bottom cookware.

Does anyone know what the “B” stamp means?

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World Kitchen unwraps the new Revere Ware site

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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