A Look at Vintage Cake Carriers or Cake Keepers
Vintage cake carriers and keepers, also known as cake savers, are once-common items that bring a nostalgic or vintage feel to the kitchen.
Tins have been used for saving and transporting food since the 19th Century. There were also covered metal “pails” for carrying lunches and multi-compartment ones for taking pies, cakes, and other dishes one from place to another.
Vintage green three-part cake and pie carrier with a floral design. The original pinner identified this as from the 1930s.
Towards the middle of the 20th Century, metal containers especially for cakes became very popular, especially in the 1950s and 1960s. In the 1970s, plastic cake containers became available. Cake keepers were often part of coordinated lines of kitchen items, including canisters, bread boxes, and dust pans. They were a common sight into the 1970s. In many kitchens they were kept on top of the refrigerator.
Vintage cake carrier with an image of a woman tending flowering potted plants. The illustration style is 1920s or 1930s, although this may have been made somewhat later. Note the ventilation holes by the knob.
Vintage green and cream color cake carrier depicting teapots, knives and forks, and kitchen items. The original pinner said it was from the 1940s.
Vintage Regal aluminum cake keeper.
Vintage cake carrier with a bird and cherries design. Cherry motifs were very popular in 1950s kitchens.
Vintage metal cake carrier with a pretty blue border and a Florentine scroll design.
Vivid vintage red cake keeper with a hand-painted floral design. This must be Ransburg! For more on Ransburg Hand Painted Originals, I recommend the collector guide The Ransburg Collection.
Many cake keepers were part of matching lines of kitchen items. I have a vintage cake keeper with the same pinecone design as this canister set. The original owner was a grandmother in Bakersfield, California who kept it on top of her refrigerator.
Cake saver with a cheerful design featuring poppies, daisies, and forget-me-knots, circa 1950s.
Vintage yellow floral cake saver with starburst motifs.
Decoware cake carrier with a Mid-Century sketch-like apple and cherry design. Decoware kitchen items were produced in the 1950s. For more background on Decoware, I recommend Heide’s “Apron History” blog.
Vintage cake saver with the look of Corning Ware “Blue Cornflower.” I did not know anything like this existed! I don’t know if it was a licensed or “copycat” item.
1960s yellow square-shape cake saver with a rooster design. The top is metal and the plate is glass.
Sky blue 1960s cake carrier. The motif is a delightful mix of “atomic starburst” and “flower power.”
Vintage cake carrier from the “flower power” era, late 1960s to very early 1970s.
Circa 1970s cake saver by Ohio-based Ballonoff Home Products. The design is very similar to Corning Ware’s popular “Spice O’ Life” pattern.
Vintage Lincoln Beautyware cake carrier, also with a design very close to Corning Ware’s “Spice O’ Life” pattern. Although most cake savers are round, some, such as this one are square. The New York-based company Lincoln Metal Products Corporation trademarked the BEAUTYWARE name in 1968.
Tupperware cake carrier in Harvest Gold, 1970s.
Cake saver marked 1979 Pentron Industries, Inc. The knob is made of wood.
Cake keepers are still made, and while most today are plastic, there are new metal examples that emulate the earlier kinds. Cake Boss (of television fame) has a line of moderately priced cake carriers. World Market has delightful cake carriers that are very low cost, while MacKenzie-Childs has distinctive but expensive ones.
Contemporary owl motif cake carrier from World Market.
Cream Patisserie cake carrier from World Market. World Market cake carriers are very reasonably priced.
Cake Boss cake carrier.
MacKenzie-Childs Flower Market cake carrier in green.
Cake keeper on a vintage red and white tablecloth.
Vintage cake keepers are readily available from online auction sites, estate sales, and other sources of second-hand goods. Most are not expensive. As with canisters, expect some rust and wear on metal items. Look for examples that still “lock” in place or at least connect well. Small imperfections that do not affect functionality or safety add to the charm of older kitchen items, and speak to their history.
