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One thing many housewives of the 1950s, 60s and 70s didn’t bet on was that one day, the kitchen utensils they used every day to prepare their family’s meals and drinks would be worth a pretty penny. When it often one Compared to Pyrex or Le Creuset, kitchen brands were neglectedCorningware has its share of famous and coveted patterns. You’re probably familiar with the brand’s blue cornflower pattern, which is always a treat Looking at estate sales or thrift stores. But lesser-known, rarer patterns include the black star pattern (sometimes called the black atomic starburst) and the starburst pattern.
Two things set the Starburst and Black Star patterns apart from the more common Corningware patterns. One is their design, which is space age rather than floral or fruity. Another is their limited production. The black star or atomic starburst pattern was created in the early 1960s. The starburst pattern was used only on the brand’s percolator, which was largely recalled in the late 1970s due to a dangerous design flaw. If you find one of the two at the thrift store, be sure to snap it up, but maybe keep the percolator just for display.
How to Find Corningware Starburst Patterns
While neither black star nor starburst patterns can be accounted for Find the holy grail of vintage kitchenwareBoth are worth grabbing if you come across them at a flea market, thrift store or online. Both patterns are the stuff of legend. Corningware introduced its percolators in the 1960s. Over the next two decades, the brand sold 18.5 million coffee makers. It issued a partial recall in 1976, then recalled every single percolator manufactured in 1979, except for the ceramic-glass pot, due to the risk of the metal handle breaking.
Since the starburst pattern only appears on percolators, when the recall was issued, the pattern was also removed from the market. The design features a large, four-pointed star and two smaller four-pointed stars with scroll detail. Two colors exist, one with platinum stars and one with black stars.
Less is known about the black star pattern. The design, an eight-pointed black star, appears on the brand’s iconic casserole dish. Information about the design is hard to come by – some say it was built for Ford Motor Company employees. Others claim that the design was only available in Canada. No matter which version of the story is true, the pattern is so rare that it sells for as much as $400 on eBay and thrift store shoppers are delighted and post on Facebook when they come across it.
