Spotting a vintage Pyrex dish in a thrift store is an easy way to go tripping down memory lane. Maybe your grandma mixed pancake batter in a Butterfly Gold Cinderella bowl. Or your best friend's mom served dinner in Spring Blossom Green casserole dishes. With countless Pyrex opalware pieces produced from the 1940s through the 1980s, there was seemingly a color or pattern for everyone. Add in the dishes’ revolutionary durability and versatility, and they quickly became a mainstay in American homes.
While Pyrex collectors today crave color, the earliest pieces were transparent, as U.S.-based Corning Glass Works began producing clear glass oven-safe dishes in 1915, and stovetop-ready Flameware in 1936.
By the end of World War II, though, the burgeoning women's consumer market was ready for something brighter. In…
