The company began as an unincorporated consumer products division of Corning, Inc. in 1915 with the invention of heat-resistant glass bakeware sold under the Pyrex brand. It was incorporated as the Corning Consumer Products Company (CCPC) in the early 1990s as part of a larger reorganization and Corning contributed or licensed to the company substantially all of its assets used in the existing consumer division. In November 1994, Corning and the CCPC sold its European, Russian, Middle Eastern and African consumer products businesses to Newell. A major competitor at the time, they would serve as the exclusive distributor for a number of the company’s products in those regions. Corning spun-off CCPC in 1998 and sold the division to Borden. It acquired General Housewares and Ekco in 1999.