Fire-King

Fire-King is an Anchor Hocking brand of glassware similar to Pyrex. It was widely produced from the 1940s until the 1970s, and has since become a popular collector's item. The glassware used to be made of low expansion borosilicate glass which made it ideal for oven use. Currently it is made of tempered soda-lime-silicate glass in the US[1] and borosilicate in Japan[2]

History

Fire-King was originally produced in the 1940s for everyday use, rather than display. It was often sold in bags of flour as a promotional item or was given away at gas stations. Fire-King could also be purchased at local grocery and hardware stores. Several varieties of Fire-King dishes were made; nesting bowls, dessert bowls, glass beverage containers, casserole dishes, mugs and more. The vintage nesting bowls, produced by the Anchor Hocking Company, are one of the most sought after collectible dishes of this type.

On Dec 21, 2010, Fire-King Japan or Fire-King Japan Co., Ltd. was founded in Japan to revive Fire-King milk glass.[2] Officially opening to the public in 2011 in Tokyo, Japan, the company sells a variety of mugs and other dishes in various colors such as milk glass, jade-ite, and rose-ite.[3] Their current CEO is Naoyuki Koike.

Products

The Fire-King line includes bowls, casseroles, cups, plates, serving platters, creamers, vases and more. Fire-King is not designed for dishwasher use, which can dull its original lustre and remove any applied paint decorations.

Fire-King Japan has lines that use the American vintage molds of various mugs and other dishes. Many of these also include reproductions of the vintage decals as well as new decal collaborations with brands such as Disney and Mos Burger. In addition brands such as Beams and GoHemp create clothing and accessories with the Fire-King logo.

Patterns and colors

There are many decaled patterns that are very popular including Blue Mosaic, Wheat, Primrose, Fleurette, Forget Me Not and Anniversary Rose. Patterns with solid glass colors are Swirl/Shell (1965–76), Sheaves of Wheat (Laurel 1952-63), Kimberly Diamond, Jane Ray, Alice, Fish Scale, Three Bands (1952–56) Restaurant Ware, 4000 Line and 1700 Line.

Fire-King solid glass colors come in jadeite, burgundy, rose-ite (creamy pink) (not to be confused with “pink swirl” which is a pink fired on color over opaque white glass), turquoise blue, azur-ite (light pale blue), white, ivory-white and ivory. It can also be a fired-on coating over crystal in shades of pastel green, pastel blue, pastel peach, pastel yellow, primary orange, primary blue, primary yellow and primary green. These fired on colors are part of the pattern Rainbow. There are also fired-on Lustre color finishes that comes in several patterns and a few colors on dinnerware such as grey, white, pink and the commonly found Peach Lustre. There is also a bakeware set and mixing bowl set in “copper tint” fired-on color (over white opaque glass) which looks very similar to peach lustre, but is just a little more subtle in its shade of copper.

Jadeite Restaurant Ware is most popular among some collectors. It is a creamy jade color. In 2000 Anchor Hocking re-debuted Fire-King in Jadeite. The pieces have been made from new molds and are not the same as the older Fire-King items. They are also stamped "Fire-King, 2000."

Further reading

• Clements, Monica Lynn, and Patricia Rosser Clements. An Unauthorized Guide to Fire-King Glasswares. A Schiffer book for collectors. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Pub. Ltd, 1999. ISBN 0-7643-0839-4
• Florence, Gene. Anchor Hocking's Fire-King & More Identification & Value Guide, Including Early American Prescut and Wexford. Paducah, Ky: Collector Books, 2000. ISBN 1-57432-164-1
• Hopper, Philip. Anchor Hocking Decorated Pitcher[S] and Glasses The Fire King Years. A Schiffer book for collectors. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Pub, 2002. ISBN 0-7643-1488-2
• Keller, Joe, and David Ross. Fire-King An Information and Price Guide. A Schiffer book for collectors. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Pub, 2002. ISBN 0-7643-1641-9
• Kilgo, Garry. A Collector's Guide to Anchor Hocking's "Fire-King" Glassware. Addison, Ala. (P.O. Box 473, Addison 35540): K & W Collectibles, 1991.
• Tvorak, April M., and Matthew R. Terry. History and Price Guide to Fire-King. Canon City, Co: VAL Enterprises, 1992.

See also

• Pyrex