Mason Cash mixing bowls - a blast from the past

"Not just any mixing bowl – but THE mixing bowl, the one that almost every house in the country has. The one that appears on every cookery programme and in every photograph of a modern kitchen." IanVisits

I saw this ad in some junk mail from a kitchen equipment company and it brought such a feeling of nostalgia to my heart. My mother and my grandmother had these - and they are still being produced. Well I think my mother and grandmother had a different design - the cane design, which was the original design and is also still being produced.

So do you have one? I confess I don't. Maybe like the writer of the article on this item in IanVisits, who also realised that he didn't have one, I should go out and buy one. Do Aldi have them I wonder? And my guess is that David Jones would have them. Not sure about House and all those others.

Because it is such a classic isn't it? I have several mixing bowls - well sometimes you need a few, though I have to admit I have more than needed. But mine are all glass or colourful plastic. And let me say now that if you are buying plastic it is worth paying more for quality - the cheap ones, don't last. They chip and they lose their colour which is slightly worrying. So maybe I should throw out my cheap ones and invest in Mason Cash.

The bowl originates from a small pottery in the little village of Church Gresley in Derbyshire in the 1800s. Well not quite. In 1901 the original pottery was bought by one Thomas Cash who named it Mason Cash & Co. after himself and one of the most famous previous potters 'Bossy' Mason. In the same year, 1901, the Cane design that we all know and love was introduced. It is called Cane after the local earthenware which derived its distinctive yellow colour from the clay. I must admit I don't quite understand this logic. Maybe they are using cane as a colour - the design on the bowl is certainly not very cane like. It's also called 'yellow ware' but it's not really yellow either - more a dark cream or beige.

In 1941 Thomas Cash's son, who was in charge by now incorporated the company. At this time he expanded into pet bowls and stuff - which has also now become iconic. In 2001 the company bought up the neighbouring pottery of T.G. Green which made another iconic range of pottery - the Cornish blue. Also still being made and still curiously fashionable.

However, in 2004 Mason Cash was bought up by the Tableware Company and recently they were bought up by the Rayware Company, who have at last moved the production offshore - I think to Portugal. Not China though. Which is a bit sad for the British but at least the designs basically remain the same. I'm not sure when the Forest range (at top of the page) was introduced. But before I leave the history I should also say that they also make pudding basins of the classic type - used by Buckingham Palace no less - and I think I do have one of these. It came from my mother anyway.

They are sold in nine numbered sizes - the number corresponds to how many they could get in the kiln at one time in the original factory. The numbers are still maintained - how dedicated to history is that? I mean that's just lovely. You would have no idea what the numbers mean when you buy them. The kilns can't have been very big - they could only get 4 of the 35cm size in and 42 of the smallest - 12cm.

So much for history.

It was used in Downton Abbey which must have boosted sales, and in the Great British Bake-off too, but there are other reasons for its continuing popularity, as pointed out by Food52, who are admittedly trying to get you to buy one (or more).

"Because of the bowl’s patterned exterior, you can grip it under your arm while you beat your eggs into submission without fear of the bowl moving about willy-nilly. It’s chip-resistant, and microwave and dishwasher safe, so it's a no-brainer addition to your kitchen." Food52

Maybe Delia has also had a go at promoting it. If she has the famous 'Delia effect' would also have boosted sales. They're obviously not cheap - the KitchenWarehouse ad that started all this had them starting at $35.00 - but nostalgia in a modern microwave, dishwasher and ovenproof form is probably worth it.

Personally I think it's the look of the thing - old-fashioned chic that fits perfectly into any super trendy modern kitchen. It comes in other colours these days too. And the nostalgia too:

"Somehow, the branding is there, in collective memories of children licking the cake mix out of the bowl when mum was baking. In a memory that the cream-coloured bowl told you that deserts and pies and cakes were on the way. In a memory that is subtly prodded when you visit a shop to buy a mixing bowl, and sitting on the shelf a product that quietly whispers fond memories in your ear. With a smile you reach out and almost unthinkingly, buy something that should look so wrong in a modern kitchen, yet is so perfectly correct.

It’s a quite remarkable situation, and one that hardly anyone seems to have noticed." IanVisits

Honestly I sometimes wonder why I do this blog. I always find somebody who says everything I wanted to say, but so much better. IanVisits was embarrassed not to have one in his kitchen - so am I.