Druware

The pots and pans were popular in the United States during the middle of the 20th century, after Robert Evans began importing the cookware from The Netherlands, with gross annual sales of $1.5 million in 1956,{{cite news |last=Freeman | first=William M. |date=1956-04-08 |title=News of the Advertising and Marketing Fields |work=New York Times |page=F11 |issn=0362-4331 }} {{ProQuest|113909996}} and nearly $2 million in 1957.

{{Blockquote

|text="American housewives have been snapping up the Evans-designed green, blue and yellow 'cook-and-serve' vessels faster than many stores can keep them in stock. Known as Royal Dru, the cookware is the adaptation of a 200-year-old Dutch process of fusing iron to enamel so that it won't crack or chip from heat or rough handling."}}

In 1960, DRU incorporated a wholly-owned subsidiary in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to manage distribution.{{cite news |author= |date=1960-02-26 |title=Dutch Concern Establishes Distribution Unit in U.S. |work=Wall Street Journal|page=5 |publisher=Dow Jones & Company Inc. |location=New York |issn=0099-9660 }} {{ProQuest|132631877}}

The most popular line of Druware came in pastel shades of Delft Blue, Tulip Yellow, and Key Largo Green, and was recognizable for the hand-painted tulip, windmill, and fleur-de-lis decorations on the sides and lids of each piece.{{cite book |last=Goldberg | first=Michael J. |title=Groovy kitchen designs for collectors, 1935-1965 : with value guide |date=1996 |publisher=Schiffer |oclc=1149276708 | chapter=Descoware and Druware |pages=153–155 }} A flame orange color, as well as "Holiday White" (white enamel, with the signature tulip design in blue){{cite news |author= |date=1960-10-10 |title='Holiday White' Cooks 'n Serves |work=Daily Defender | page=5 | publisher=Robert S. Abbott Pub. Co. | issn=2572-5289 | location=Chicago, Ill.}} {{ProQuest|493791361 }}{{cite news |last=Johnson | first=Abbey |date=1960-12-11 |title=How About Gift for Home? It's a Cinch to Please |work=Chicago Daily Tribune |department=South |page=11 |publisher=Tribune Publishing Company |location=Chicago, Ill.}} {{ProQuest|182737082}} and an all-white color "that resembles china"{{cite news |author= |date=1958-10-15 |title=Housewares Get a Worldly Touch |work=New York Times |page=L49 |issn=0362-4331}} {{ProQuest|114515473}} were also produced.

Despite Druware's popularity with home cooks, venerable chef James Beard was less impressed. "I use the old lines of cast iron -- Griswold, Wagner -- not all this prettied stuff. I had a Druware pot simply split from the heat a day or two ago."{{cite journal |editor-last=Ginsberg |editor-first=Priscilla |date=December 1962 |title=Kitchens are to Cook |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_interiors_1962-12_122_5/page/102/mode/2up?q=druware |journal=Interiors |volume=122 |issue=5 |page=102 |access-date=2022-11-08 |publisher=Emerald Expositions}}

After natural gas became popular in the Netherlands in the 1960s,{{cite web |url=https://www.eecc.eu/blog/groningen-gas-field |title=The rise and fall of the Dutch Groningen gas field}} DRU ceased the production of cookware, and began producing fireplaces, wall heaters, and wood stoves.

Druware was the design inspiration for Dutch Ovenware, a line of pottery produced by Cameron Clay Products, of Cameron, West Virginia.{{cite web | last=Gonzalez | first=Mark | title=Royal Cuisine and Dutch Ovenware by Cameron Clay Products | publication-date=2015-02-11 | access-date=2022-11-04 | url=http://www.laurelhollowpark.net/orp/cameronkitchenware.html}}

{{reflist}}

• {{Cite book |last=Rodermond |first=Jacco |title=Vuurvast en energiek : 250 jaar DRU |last2=Bourgondiën |first2=Karel |publisher=Fonteyn & Andersen |year=2004 |oclc=943938367}}

• Le Creuset
• Descoware
• Cousances

• {{cite book | oclc=913265056 | author=Royal Dru (Firm), Machin Turner & Co Ltd | publisher=The Firm | title=Oven to table ware for a lifetime of beauty | date=1955 | place=The Netherlands}}
• [https://www.drufire.com/int/about-dru-en/our-story Official Dru Website]
• DRU on Wikipedia NL

Category:Cookware and bakeware

Category:Manufactured goods

Category:Manufacturing companies of the Netherlands