Burner Pad Covers in Crochet

2025.020

Burner Pad Covers in Crochet

Unknown

Probably after 1949

Crocheted covers, about 9 1/4 inches in diameter Hotplates with crimped metal border, 8 5/8 inches in diameter

For a time, probably in the 2010s, I ran across a number of crocheted doilies with a crocheted mesh border on the wrong side. What was -that- about? My mother Anna knew exactly what the mesh-backed doilies were: decorative covers for asbestos hot plates or burner pads. The burner pad fit between the mesh and the decorative crocheted top. The pink flower cover starts with only seven petals in the flower. Browsing through similar covers online, six or eight petals are common. I wondered if the crocheter left out a petal by accident or intentionally to keep the piece flat. The red flower cover had the added security of a crocheted drawstring to tighten the mesh and hold the burner pad in place. The burner pad included a metal hanging loop. The person who crocheted the cover with the red flower ran out of red thread with four flower petals to go. They finished up with a different red thread. It's not from the same dye lot, but the crocheter apparently didn't mind. In 2025, the digital collection of the National Museum of American History listed a burner pad like the one in the pink flower cover. It lists the pad as having been made around the 1930s to 1950s. Find it here: https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object/nmah_1100769 Also in 2025, a similar hot plate cover pattern could be found at freevintagecrochet.com. If you look closely at the pattern photo, you can see the crimped metal rim on the burner pad. Rose Hot Plate Mat Cover #6401 https://freevintagecrochet.com/star64/6401-rose-hot-plate-mat-cover-pattern Or in the pattern leaflet Flower Doilies and a New Pansy Doily Star Book No. 64 American Thread Company Original Copyright 1949

Suzann Thompson