Thread Number: 31468
Centura by Corning
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Post# 474680   11/12/2010 at 20:25 (4,884 days old) by PeterH770 (Marietta, GA)        

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Picked up a some white Centura china at an estate sale today because I was looking for some plain white china and I thought this was a reasonable deal ($20):
8 dinner plates
5 luncheon plates
2 desert plates
8 coffee cups
7 saucers
sugar bowl (no lid?) and creamer
1 ??? plate (that goes under a pitcher of sorts, slightly bigger than a dessert plate with a 1/2" rim?)

Do any of you collect this?





Post# 474812 , Reply# 1   11/13/2010 at 10:04 (4,883 days old) by polkanut (Wausau, WI )        

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The plate with the 1/2" rim may be an underplate for a gravy boat. Check Replacements.com to help you identify the pattern you have, and the piece in question.

Post# 475056 , Reply# 2   11/14/2010 at 12:59 (4,882 days old) by PeterH770 (Marietta, GA)        

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I really don't want these coffee cups and saucers. If anyone would like them, please let me know...

Post# 475147 , Reply# 3   11/14/2010 at 22:36 (4,882 days old) by gansky1 (Omaha, The Home of the TV Dinner!)        
Corningware for the table - but not the microwave!

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Picture please. I'll show you my Centura if you show me yours :-)

It sounds like one of the rimmed plates you have may be a later style of Centura, is it marked differently on the bottom? Someone else can fill in the details a little better but IIRC, the factory that produced Centura burned to the ground and most all of the original molds were lost. Post-fire styles were a bit different and "updated" with more square sided bowls, rimmed plates, etc. There were many, many different patterns available through the years but I've never seen a complete list. This one at Correlle Corner is pretty good - some I've never seen in person.

Hopefully you haven't already learned the hard way but the Centura is typically not microwave safe unless it's marked on the bottom. That's about the only thing I don't like about these dishes, they still are some of my all-time favorite shapes and sizes. You'll use the luncheon plates probably as much as the other two sizes combined.

I have service for roughly 100 in the Centura Coupe (not cups and saucers, I don't need those either) When we had the vacuum convention here in '07, none of the 80 people needed a foam plate for dinner. My grandmother had the Cornflower pattern for her "good" dishes and I still have them but I've added "a few" since. I've given away as much as I have, mom has a set, John L. got a box as well as a few other friends. Rarer pieces of the set are the buffet servers, coffee pots and oddly enough, the berry & dessert bowls seem rather rare. The wide-rimmed pasta bowls are outstanding and get used constantly here but can be hard to stumble upon by chance and somewhat spendy to buy on ebay, etc. Centura is still common enough that you can find what you need pretty easily without resorting to buying from the dealers and Replacements.com though those places can be great for education about different lines, pieces, etc. I have both White Coupe and the Cornflower, as well as some odd-pattern pieces I've found here and there.

It's a sickness. Really, you can't shake this virus, just give in :-D


Post# 475158 , Reply# 4   11/15/2010 at 01:48 (4,882 days old) by PeterH770 (Marietta, GA)        

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LOL! I have given up hoarding, but I do lapse now and then (wait until I post about the next lapse). The pics for this estate sale showed plain white dishes, and I was hoping for simple Corelle. But it is Centura. So out came the Visa, and it all came home. It didn't help that the nice lady running the sell kept asking me if she could "wrap it up" while I looked through the rest of the house.

I have one square side bowl (assuming soup/cereal) and one small side bowl (assuming desert). Not for nothing, people must have cursed a blue streak the first time they tried to load these into the dishwasher (THEY DON'T FIT!!!). The sugar and creamer appear to match this. The logo is exactly the same on all pieces -- no "microwave safe". Upon closer inspection, the dishes are lightly scratched, with these rust spots on the underside. I guess I got duds -- some well used duds...
:(

I guess I have some pics to take and some research to do...


Post# 475198 , Reply# 5   11/15/2010 at 10:07 (4,881 days old) by veg-o-matic (Baltimore, Hon!)        
Oh, yeah

veg-o-matic's profile picture
You just can't have too much Cornflower Centura! All of mine has come from either the Goodwill or the Sally Ann.

I put mine in the microwave all the time with no ill results. Way back when, Consumer Reports said not to ever put it on a hot stove burner because it would explode.

veg


Post# 475211 , Reply# 6   11/15/2010 at 11:59 (4,881 days old) by laundromat (Hilo, Hawaii)        

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I grew up with the all white set and my Grandmother whom we called "Mado" bought them a The Hecht Company around 1964. I got home from school and she handed me one of the coffee cups telling me,insisting that I throw it on our tiled floor.I did and it bounced about but never broke. I was puzzled and surprised. then, my sister got home and,again,Mado handed her the coffee cup and,sure enough,it bounced but did not break.Then,my brother got home. Mado handed him the coffee cup and told him, as she did me and my sister earlier, to throw it on the floor. He did,it broke in smithereans and three of the four of us stared in amazement at what just happened. Evidently, Mado was told that,if it did break,she could bring back the remains and get a replacement free.I think my brother or sister still has the originals (Or what's left of them) in their home.

Post# 475896 , Reply# 7   11/17/2010 at 18:26 (4,879 days old) by roto204 (Tucson, AZ)        
Corelle

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We used to study that break/not break effect in our physics courses. The explanation was that the first bounce creates an interference wave that propagates across the plate/cup/whatever, and subsequent bounces can set off waves in other directions. Sometimes you get lucky--sometimes you don't. If you were like me, you always wondered why it bounced on the first landing and shattered on the second.

If you ended up with a constructive wave convergence in just the right place at just the right time, crack! :-)


Post# 475910 , Reply# 8   11/17/2010 at 18:46 (4,879 days old) by LordKenmore (The Laundry Room)        

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Centura definitely can break. My parents had some when I was growing up, which we used for daily use. Something or other would break every so often. In fact, until this thread came up, I had never thought of it as "unbreakable."

Although, I do recall one time when I was small I thought it would be fun to hide in the corner and jump out and say "Boo!" My poor father was actually shocked enough to drop the Centura plate he was carrying. It hit the floor, but didn't shatter.


Post# 475938 , Reply# 9   11/17/2010 at 20:26 (4,879 days old) by MikeS ()        
Centura Ads

Back in 1964-65, Corning ran a great ad campaign showing a bull in a china shop, bumping into one display after another--of course, the displays were filled with Centura tableware, as the announcer points out the three-year guarantee against breakage. It won a Cleo Award (the Oscars of the ad industry), and I have a tape of a message by then-"Today" show host Hugh Downs and his cohorts talking to Corning dealers about the Centura campaign and live demonstrations on "Today" planned for the spring of 1965.

Post# 476083 , Reply# 10   11/18/2010 at 12:20 (4,878 days old) by laundromat (Hilo, Hawaii)        

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yea but when those things broke, they shattered into billions of tiny pieces and were hard to sweep up the entire amount in one sweep.Almost like a fine powder.I remember too the percolators they made and had a major call back on because their glued on handles would come right off. If you weren't careful,you could get severely scolded by the hot coffee spilling all over you.

Post# 476452 , Reply# 11   11/20/2010 at 10:22 (4,876 days old) by gansky1 (Omaha, The Home of the TV Dinner!)        

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I've used Centura for years and it certainly can break. Usually the pieces are large but it depends on how it breaks. If it falls onto the granite counter, it can shatter into many small pieces but onto a wood floor or a drop onto other dishes, usually it's just a couple of pieces. Though certainly breakable it doesn't chip as easily as other materials and is extremely durable. Time and use will eventually reveal scratches on the surface of the dishes and it's just as susceptible to scratching & gray flatware marks as most other materials. I heard once that the stainless flatware was worn out when you started to see those marks on your dishes, but that's another thread-question.

Post# 476460 , Reply# 12   11/20/2010 at 11:41 (4,876 days old) by polkanut (Wausau, WI )        
Greg,

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If flatware is worn out when you start seeing gray marks & scratches, then my Riviera flatware in the Cordova pattern from circa 1972 should be trashed! lol I've never heard that about dishes and flatware, interesting.

Post# 476475 , Reply# 13   11/20/2010 at 13:28 (4,876 days old) by laundromat (Hilo, Hawaii)        
I never thought about it but---------

laundromat's profile picture
----- I truly am interested in finding out if the 4+1 Corning ceramic top range tops were actually made of the same durable blend that Correlle Living wear is made of?????

Post# 476490 , Reply# 14   11/20/2010 at 14:49 (4,876 days old) by Maytagbear (N.E. Ohio)        
Metal markings on ceramics

just means that the ceramic is harder than the metal. A little Bon Ami powder, water, and rubbing, and the marks go away.


I've never had Centura, but I have had LOTS of Corelle during the years. Corelle is a laminated glass.


Ma got us the "Butterfly Gold" right after the cup handle changed to the open style. I got so heartily SICK of the stuff, that after about the 20th year, I begged her to let me donate most of it to Goodwill! We then used a stoneware set that was a supermarket premium. Then, when she wasn't looking, I got the new Fiesta of my dreams.


What freaks me out big time about Corelle is that most of it is available at REPLACEMENTS! (At Replacements prices, admittedly, but......)


Lawrence/Maytagbear


Post# 479610 , Reply# 15   12/5/2010 at 14:37 (4,861 days old) by gansky1 (Omaha, The Home of the TV Dinner!)        

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It's Dinnerware Transition Day again so I snapped a couple of shots of the Centura as I was moving dishes around. This is a sampling of the sets and odd bits I have. I didn't dig out all of the buffet service and coffee pots today but perhaps over the holidays they'll make an appearance, I brought home a shallow casserole dish a few weeks ago so we'll have to make use of it. Terry will fill it up for sure!

Post# 479611 , Reply# 16   12/5/2010 at 14:39 (4,861 days old) by gansky1 (Omaha, The Home of the TV Dinner!)        

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The Corning Headquarters plate standing in back is Pyroceram by Corning, the Centura name had been dropped by that time and it is a bit different glass.

Post# 479612 , Reply# 17   12/5/2010 at 14:41 (4,861 days old) by gansky1 (Omaha, The Home of the TV Dinner!)        

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Two and a half dishwasher loads!

The top of the KitchenAid has serving bowls - one gold-banded and two of the blue "flower". The White Coupe is what I'm using for everyday use. I've found far more of those than anything else.


Post# 479624 , Reply# 18   12/5/2010 at 15:15 (4,861 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md)        
CENTURA DISHES BY CORNING

combo52's profile picture
We had the Lamba car club holiday party at my house last night and served about 80 people dinner. We used the roughly 50 Centura dinner plates plus the everyday Corell dishes, It all translated into about 12 loads of dishes in the WP and two KA dishwashers. My mom has been using her Centura for years as her everyday dishes and it will diffidently break if placed in the microwave oven, she has lost many pieces that way. But overall I think its great stuff I am always on the lookout for it at sales and of coerce Greg N helped out a lot.

Post# 479644 , Reply# 19   12/5/2010 at 16:56 (4,861 days old) by swestoyz (Cedar Falls, IA)        
Those bowls will never get clean on that top rack...

swestoyz's profile picture
Centura is the best! My habit can only be attributed to none other than Greg.

Post# 479669 , Reply# 20   12/5/2010 at 18:40 (4,861 days old) by PeterH770 (Marietta, GA)        
"...of coerce Greg N helped out a lot."

peterh770's profile picture
Coerced? He has a way of doing that. How do you think I ended up with that Hamilton?

I have been looking at my Centura. It is really rode hard, and that I may not be microwave friendly makes me think it is ready to be passed on to someone else... Will be posting pics soon...


Post# 479714 , Reply# 21   12/5/2010 at 21:53 (4,861 days old) by tlee618 ()        

Great pictures Greg, I love those Halloween plates. Can't wait to see that casserole dish! I'm sure we will be putting it to good use.

Post# 479751 , Reply# 22   12/6/2010 at 00:22 (4,861 days old) by A440 ()        
Corning is cool...

When my oldest brother got married in the early 80's he received two sets of Corning. I don't remember the pattern. What I do remember is my trying to be Macho with my limp wrists trying to carry both box sets into their new home. I did not know that one of the boxes had been opened and all of the contents of that box slid out and fell onto the concrete! What a horrific sound! The plates and such actually bounced it seemed several times! Not one of the dishes were chipped! I was so impressed!
Greg where in the world did you get the Corning Headquarter plates? What a cool find!
Also love your two dishwashers side by side in your kitchen! One is a Kitchenaid and one is a Maytag. Do you have a picture of them? I bet they look so great side by side!
Brent


Post# 479832 , Reply# 23   12/6/2010 at 10:27 (4,860 days old) by veg-o-matic (Baltimore, Hon!)        

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Oooh, I've never seen the blue cereal bowls or the big coffee mugs. I'm going to have to keep my eyes peeled for them.

I really wish they had made glassware in the cornflower pattern.

veg


Post# 989066 , Reply# 24   4/1/2018 at 09:04 (2,187 days old) by jamiel (Detroit, Michigan and Palm Springs, CA)        

jamiel's profile picture
Resurrecting an old thread here...I just unearthed some of my mom's white coupe Centura from the basement. I grew up with it for everyday. On the flat pieces, there appears to be a yellow discoloration on the bottom. If I didn't know better, it looks a bit like the coating on the Corning browning dish (I can't swear whether or not these pieces had been used in the microwave---by the time my mom got a microwave she had a set of Corelle in the cupboard for that purpose). We're entertaining today so I'm not going to investigate too much, but wondered if anyone knew anything.




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