Corning Ware Profile: Centura Cook 'n' Serve (1962) 

Meant for stovetop and oven use, cookware co-ordinating with the Centura product line is made of Corning Ware, but the items carried the Centura brand name to emphasize their connection to the dinnerware.  The initial selection of Cook 'n' Serve items first appeared at Centura's introduction, in the autumn of 1962.  These new Corning Ware shapes were available only in plain white.

Centura Cook 'n' Serve 1 Qt saucepan/casserole.  All three sizes might be the same diameter, using the same size of lid.

Designed by Jerry Wright, the cookware is a series of uniquely styled casseroles in 1 Qt, 1½ Qt, and 2 Qt sizes.  Lids are solid white, but company literature states that they are not glass-ceramic as Corning Ware and Centura are.  They seem to be a common ceramic instead, like the original Centura cream & sugar sets.  Being narrower than usual, the tapered tab handles need a different detachable handle, a 601-H.

Cook 'n' Serve 2 Qt casserole on candle-warmer stand.  Image from 1963 leaflet.

Among the Cook 'n' Serve products of the 1960s were two types of Corning Ware platters with the Centura brand name.  A 15" Broil-Bake-Serve platter has the proportions of an ordinary Corning Ware well & tree platter, but it has a flat bottom and no well & tree contours.  The 10½" platter has a true oval shape and a flat rim at either end.

Two distinctive stovetop percolators were made to match Centura; the 4 cup has a white spout, but the 6 cup has a chrome spout.  A metal candle-warmer stand was designed to fit both sizes.  The 6 cup beverage server, or teapot, resembles the 4 cup percolator, but it has a different lid.

Corning Ware 9 cup percolator on candle-warmer stand, 6 cup beverage server.  Also, cream & sugar set and tall cups & saucers.  Image from 1963 leaflet.

The original Centura Cook 'n' Serve casseroles in plain white were available for about five years.  Percolators and beverage servers remained until the late 1960s, and were offered alongside the next shape to emerge in the Cook 'n' Serve series: Buffet Servers.

The second grouping of Corning Ware cookware to carry the Centura brand debuted about 1968, with a shape borrowed from Buffet Servers and Avocado & Butterscotch Round.  Choice of pattern was restricted to plain white at first, but eventually these items would be decorated with Laurel, Lynnwood and Summerhill too.

Saucepan sizes are: 1 Qt (B-1), 1¾ Qt (B-1¾), 2½ Qt (B-2½).  Skillets were available only in White: 8½" (B-8½), 10" (B-10).  Lids are made of Corning Ware, and are topped by a ceramic knob that is attached with a metal pin or screw.  Buffet Servers have small tab handles, and white detachable handles were provided for these patterns.

Centura Cook 'n' Serve Corning Ware, round Buffet Server shape: Laurel, White, Lynnwood, Summerhill.  Images from 1972 catalogue.

Sometime between 1972 & 1974, round Buffet Servers with Centura patterns disappeared, and regular square Corning Ware appeared instead.  During 1974, square casseroles could be purchased in every available Centura decoration: April Tulip, Evening Song, Lynnwood, Shangri La, Summerhill, White.

These Cook 'n' Serve pieces have wide tab handles and were made in three saucepan sizes: C-1½ (1½ Qt), C-2 (2 Qt), C-3 (3 Qt), and two skillets: C-8 (8 inch), C-10-N (10 inch).  Literature states that the model numbers begin with "C", but the sizes correspond with regular Corning Ware pieces prefixed with "A"; it is unclear what the backstamps actually say.  White detachable handles were provided for this grouping.

Centura Cook 'n' Serve Corning Ware, ordinary square shape: Shangri La, Summerhill, Lynnwood, White, April Tulip.  Images from 1974 booklet.  Visit Replacements Ltd. for a photo of Evening Song Corning Ware.

Decorated with Centura patterns, square Corning Ware was on the market until about 1976.  From that point until Centura's discontinuance in July 1977, plain white square cookware was offered in two sizes: C-1½ (1½ Qt) and C-3 (3 Qt).

Additional plain white serving items made of Corning Ware also emerged at that time, including a coupe 8½"x 11½" oval platter (C-811), and a 15 oz handled bowl called a "Porringer" (C-150).  These items are better known as a Main Plate (P-811) and a Grab-It (P-150) in Corning Ware's Microwave Plus and Little Dishes product lines.  These shapes remained for several years after the disappearance of Centura Tableware.

Blue Cornflower: Centura bowl and small plate, Corning Ware Petite Pans.

Naturally, there are numerous Corning Ware shapes & sizes that perfectly match Centura Tableware in Blue Cornflower, Spice O' Life and Spring Bouquet, but they did not belong to Centura's Cook 'n' Serve product line.  These are standard Corning Ware patterns instead.  Spring Bouquet is the equivalent of Wildflower.

For Blue Cornflower, the Centura version was introduced after the Corning Ware version.  It was rarely mentioned that the two products harmonized with each other, and Blue Cornflower Corning Ware was never promoted as an accompaniment to Blue Cornflower Centura.  Advertising consistently pictured the dinnerware alongside plain white Cook 'n' Serve products instead.

Spice O' Life Centura also followed behind its Corning Ware counterpart, but in this case they were acknowledged to be suitable partners.  Spice O' Life Corning Ware played a role in the print advertisement that announced the launch of Spice O' Life Centura.

Spring Bouquet Centura, Wildflower Corning Ware.  Images from 1977 booklet and 1978 brochure.

When Spring Bouquet debuted there was no Corning Ware to co-ordinate with it.  The pattern was quickly dropped, and a few months later, Wildflower Corning Ware appeared for the first time.  The two product lines were never contemporary with each other, but Spring Bouquet Centura matches Wildflower Corning Ware just as well as Wildflower Corelle does.


Related Articles: 

Corning Ware Profile: Buffet Servers
Centura Tableware Pattern Profiles
Centura Gallery: Corning Ware Cook 'n' Serve
Centura Gallery: Laurel, Lynnwood, Summerhill
Centura Gallery: April Tulip, Evening Song, Shangri La
Centura Gallery: White Coupe, White Narrow Rim, White Sculptured Rim
Centura Gallery: Blue Cornflower, Spice O' Life, Spring Bouquet
Corelle Profiles: Blue Cornflower, Spice O' Life, Wildflower
Corning Ware Percolator Recall
Corning Ware Profile: Grab-Its, Sidekicks, etc.