Enamel seems to be far away from our lives.
When it comes to "enamel", some post-00s may not have any memory, but in the memories of the 70s, 80s and 90s, enamel teapots, enamel bowls, and enamel basins printed with large peony flowers and large carp patterns... They are all necessities of life, they have been so close to us, day and night, but from time to time, it seems to disappear from our lives; from when they have become nostalgic cultural creations...
Buying an enamel teapot and putting it on the bookshelf has a sense of nostalgia
"Drinking tea with a large enamel cup in my hand is very old. You see, this big word, how festive, even if you put it on the bookshelf and look at it, it doesn't feel good. Mr. Zhang after the 90s said that when he was a child, there were many enamel supplies at home, enamel teapots, enamel bowls, enamel spoons, enamel plates, almost all the tableware was enamel, if you accidentally dropped the enamel things to the ground, "bang" a sound, quasi-drop a piece of porcelain, the number of falls, the surface of the porcelain fell more, over time, the bare iron skin will rust, over time will be perforation.
In Mr. Zhang's memory, at that time, no matter whose enamel supplies would drop porcelain to varying degrees, there were black spots, and parents did not beat themselves because they broke the enamel bowl. "I haven't seen an enamel thing in many years, but fortunately, some nostalgic shops still sell it, and buying a few to put in the home is also a kind of decoration." Mr. Zhang said that the current enamel product is not as thick as when he was a child, but it is ok, after all, no one takes it to eat now.
Mr. Zhu, who is also a post-90s generation, also gushes about enamel supplies when it comes to them. Mr. Zhu said that his family still has a washbasin with the words Wan Zi Qianhong and a good full moon that his parents used to get married. "It's very old, but it's still good for raising flowers." Mr. Zhu said.
The history of China's use of "porcelain"
Nowadays, enamel is replaced by plastic, stainless steel, etc., and in an instant, enamel seems to disappear from our lives.
It is understood that porcelain was invented Chinese, and enamel is not. Before the eighteenth century, enamel was made as a work of art based on gold, silver and copper, and the manufacture of enamel as a real daily necessity began in England.
In the 1930s, China's enamel factories had blossomed everywhere, and Shanghai was the birthplace and concentration of China's enamel industry, when the wide-brimmed, round-bellied, deep-bottom nine-star brand "Victory Basin" produced in Shanghai was the best-selling. Zhang Ailing, a writer from a large family, once used a net pocket to carry a foreign porcelain lid bowl to the vegetable market to buy tofu, and when Zhang Hexhui wrote "The Golden Powder Family", he was accompanied by an enamel teapot on the stove next to him.
After the founding of New China, because enamel products are light and durable, and the price is close to the people, the state vigorously developed the enamel daily necessities industry, and many enamel factories in Shanghai responded to the call and moved inland to support the establishment of factories, and 16 enamel factories were built in various places. In 1956, the era of daily enamel "everyone has it, everyone is using it" arrived, and enamel dishes were first widely used in the military, railways, hospitals and government agencies, the most classic of which were green military tea tanks, lunch boxes for railway workers with meals, and enamel plates with syringes that children in hospitals would start crying when they saw them. Once upon a time, the enamel washbasin produced in Shanghai was a gift for the newlyweds.
From daily necessities to works of art
Enamel has not declined
About the beginning of the new century, those enamel daily necessities represented by enamel jars and enamel washbasins soon disappeared in people's daily lives.
The reasons mainly come from two aspects. First, plastics, stainless steel, aluminum alloys and ceramic products with more advanced technology, lower prices and more practical performance have developed, which has greatly compressed the living space of enamel products. On the other hand, the pickling process in the production process of enamel products will discharge a large amount of heavy metal wastewater into the river, which will bring pollution to the environment.
Under the attack of the two sides, the decline of enamel seems inevitable.
However, many people do not know that although enamel supplies have left our most familiar sight, it has not disappeared, but has been updated in new fields, and has developed from daily enamel to home appliances enamel, architectural enamel, sanitary ware, kitchen enamel products, industrial enamel, medical enamel and many other fields.
Some young brands of enamel design, not only limited to the design of the pattern of enamel dishes, in the shape of enamel, but also gave the traditional enamel a new way of use, ins wind enamel tea pot, combined with the zodiac elements design of enamel refrigerator stickers, etc., in addition, enamel has also become a valuable work of art. At present, the production of medium and high-grade enamel pots, stew pots, woks, enamel pots and other products produced by the mainland is mainly used for export.
Enamel, not declining, not disappearing, this traditional advanced material is giving new vitality.
How to pick enamel products
Tell if it's enamel or lacquer
Some people will not be able to distinguish between enamel coating and lacquer coating, lacquer is not resistant to high temperatures, can not contact with food, remember to ask the merchant before buying.
01
For the purpose of loading food, it must have a product standard code
Enamel cups and enamel bowls can be used for food and beverages at a glance, but some enamel trays and the like may be difficult to judge.
If you are not sure that the enamel product you buy can only be used for ordinary storage and decoration, or can contact food, be sure to consult the merchant, it is best to let the merchant provide the corresponding test certificate.
02
The inner wall should be smooth and flawless
The national standard clearly stipulates that the enamel material that comes into contact with food should not have obvious fish scale bursts, cracks, stripped porcelain and pinholes in appearance; there should be no obvious orange peel wrinkles, boiling, concave and convex particles and deformations; there should be no obvious decorative defects.
03
The side that touches the food is preferably white porcelain
Enamel products are white and colored, and the more common products in the industry, the side that comes into contact with food is mostly white. This is because firing at high temperatures will be more conducive to blocking the precipitation of harmful substances, but in order to ensure the beauty of the product, the firing temperature of colored porcelain will be slightly reduced during the firing process. Moreover, most colored porcelain needs to be colored by adding a small amount of colorants containing heavy metals.
This leads to a slightly higher risk of dissolution of the harmful substances of colored porcelain. However, there is nothing wrong with using it for exterior decoration.
Source: Synthesized from Heilongjiang Radio and Television News, Beijing Daily, Lilac Life Research Institute, etc
Editor-in-charge, typesetting: Zhang Jiazhen
Photo design: Li Shaopu
Review: Zheng Ying
Statement: If there is a source labeling error or infringement of your legitimate rights and interests, please contact the author with the proof of ownership, we will correct and delete it in time, thank you.