great moments in

casserole history

1913

Pyrex breaks into cookware. Bessie Littleton needed to bake a cake, but her casserole dish was broken. Her Corning Glass Works scientist husband brought her the sawed-off bottoms of some battery jars to use instead. And thus, Pyrex, the glass cookware company, was born.

1943

Spot the silver-lidded casserole dish in Norman Rockwell's classic Thanksgiving family dinner "Freedom From Want" painting.

1940s

Eugenia Japp urges husband Leonard (who founded Jays Potato Chips) to put a recipe on the chip bags. He used her version of a tuna fish casserole topped with crushed potato chips.

1947

President Harry S. Truman asks Americans to help postwar recovery in Europe through "Meatless Tuesdays" and other efforts in his "Food Conservation Speech." Wife Bess created a casserole recipe (yet another tuna, this one with noodles) as a tasty alternative.

Eugenia Japp urged husband Leonard, who founded Jay’s Potato Chips, to put a recipe on the chip bags. He used her version of a tuna fish casserole topped with crushed potato chips. (Bill Hogan/Chicago Tribune/TNS) ORG XMIT: 1162956

1955

Green bean casserole is born. Campbell Soup Company's Dorcas Reilly wanted to create a quick and easy recipe using two common items in American kitchens: green beans and Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup.

1994

Lasagna stars in the TV show "Friends" when Rachel (Jennifer Aniston) loses Barry's engagement ring in Monica's (Courteney Cox) lasagna in "The One With the Sonogram at the End."

2011

A CorningWare casserole dish with its blue cornflower design sits in the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, donated by Mrs. Anne L. Bernat, who received a set for her 1967 wedding.

2012

"Cheesecake Casserole" — the movie. Four friends come together on the weekend before college graduation and make a cheesecake casserole. A lot has changed since they met freshman year, and the girls wonder whether their friendship will keep them together for years to come.

Sources: Campbellkitchen.com; Internet Movie Database; Norman Rockwell Museum (NRM.org); National Park Service Museum Collections: Harry S. Truman (www.nps.gov); Pyrexware.com; Smithsonian (www.si.edu).