 |
The British Heat Resisting Glass Company"Phoenix"
|
|
And still the items continue to appear.
 |
Phoenix made a lot of what they called "scientific glass" which seems to have included laboratory glassware. The are electrical insulators. Bev Parker thinks that they were probably for the electric cables used for railways. |
 |
And lastly (for the moment) is our mystery object. It is clearly marked "Phoenix". Frank Sharman has convinced himself that it is a bit of "scientific glass" and may be an insulator or part of one. But Bev Parker is not sure and neither is John Hughes (who adds that the he never knew the MEB to use glass insulators, always ceramic). The opposing view is that it is a pie funnel. The mother of the people who sold it to Frank actually used it as such. Opinion is divided as to whether it would make a good pie funnel and as to whether it was designed as a pie funnel: was it originally meant for some other purpose but then taken up as a pie funnel when its suitable shape was recognised? Does anyone know? |
 |
Since the paragraph above first appeared, we have heard,
via the Internet, from Sam Gresham, who is a collector of pie funnels
and has researched them. He has settled this issue. Sam sent us this photo of items from his own collection. He says that they are pie funnels, they are all marked PHOENIX PF505 and that the three sizes enabled you to use an appropriate size for the dish you were using. It is amazing how useful the Internet is in such matters as this - where else are you going to meet a pie funnel expert? So many thanks to Sam - and to the Internet. |
 |
This casserole has the coronation souvenir decoration on its lid and it is contained in a cheap and nasty aluminium and plastic holder, presumably for putting on the table to impress friends when they came to dinner. It was found in the remains of its original box. |
| Unfortunately the box was way past saving but its label was just about ok. This is it - slightly restored by the wonders of digital photography. Unless "Nevvacold" was a trade name of Phoenix, this suggest that Phoenix's casseroles were bought by other companies to put in their containers for retail sale; as well as Phoenix buying in containers and selling the combination under their own name. |
 |
 |
This six-sided casserole holder is rather better - perhaps it would impress the vicar if he came to dinner. The base is in bright chrome with plastic handles with the interior coated in a gold finish - which has started to chip off, even though it seems to be unused. Whether this is one of Phoenix's own holders or some other company's is not known. |
 |
This pattern of brambles, which has come to light on two sizes of side plate, is one of their nicer efforts. |
 |
But this fruit or cereal bowl, like the plate in the same design shown on an earlier page, is not so happy. |
| This coronation souvenir is not a plate, like the one on the earlier page, but a tea pot stand. |
 |
But then the story stuck for a while until a whole new chapter was added - from America!
 |
 |
| click here to go back to the start of the Phoenix story | click here to continue the Phoenix story |