Empty Frying Pan

LauriPatterson/iStock/GettyImages

Great-Grandma'south big, heavy cast iron skillet sits at the back of your cupboard, taking up room. Besides bulky to utilise as a weight for your arm curls, but heavy enough to perform well as a doorstop, at one fourth dimension, the bandage iron skillet seemed to have outlived its usefulness in the kitchen ‒ until cooking magazines and Television set food programs grabbed onto the old and turned it into the new. All of a sudden, shiny, colorful, enamel-coated cast atomic number 26 pots and skillets popped up everywhere. Just earlier you lot toss the old to purchase a newer version, have some other expect at Not bad-Grandma's skillet. Information technology just might be a valuable antiquarian.

The Making of an Antique

It'southward not likely that your skillet originated in China'due south Jiangsu province during the fourth dimension betwixt the 5th to 3rd century B.C. Yet, that's where historians date the beginnings of the use of iron. The Silk Route virtually likely brought fe to what are now the European countries, but it took many hundreds of years before weapons and armaments were forged from iron and turned into cookware.

How cannons evolved into Dutch ovens is another artistic bent in history. Abraham Darby, an Englishman, found a fashion to cast the iron into sparse-sided pots, added a trio of little feet on the bottom, giving birth to a pot that was perfect for cooking over an open fire. The twelvemonth was 1707, and his patent set off a revolutionary development in the creation and production of cookware.

By the finish of the 1800s, American producers had joined in the production of cast atomic number 26 cookware. American companies held the reins of cast iron product in the United States, and the need grew as production prices diminished along with consumer costs.

Producing Original Cast Iron Skillets

From the 1800s to the 1900s, all bandage iron cookware was handmade from a mold, thus, the term "bandage" when defining cast atomic number 26. The mold allowed intricate, manufacturer-designed elements to be incorporated into the pattern, including the producer'southward logo. Information technology also resulted in cookware that was lighter weight than the automobile-produced cookware of today.

An instance of the advantages of handmade molds: Lodge's vintage cookware weighs approximately one pound less than that produced today, and the thickness of the sides is considerably less than today's production.

Original cast atomic number 26 always had a smooth surface. If yours has a surface that seems like fine sandpaper, it's virtually likely a newer version or not produced in the Us.

Makers of Original Cookware

Griswold is the great-granddaddy of bandage iron cookware. Originally a manufacturer of hardware, the visitor moved into the cookware business in the 1870s. Located in Erie, Pennsylvania, Griswold's reign equally the king of cast iron skillets, pots, pans, grinders and waffle irons extended into the 1950s, when lighter aluminum and Teflon products hit the market. Original Griswold skillets are collectors' items and bring high prices on the open up marketplace.

In 1957, another cast atomic number 26 cookware manufacturer, Wagner, bought out Griswold and airtight the Erie production facility. An original bandage fe manufacturer, Wagner had been in the cookware business since 1891 and was located in Sidney, Ohio. Its production quality surpassed that of Griswold and gained international fame.

Along came The Randall Corporation that bought Wagner in 1952, and McGraw Edison purchased Griswold in 1957. Later on that twelvemonth, Randall bought the Griswold line and united the two companies, shutting downwardly the Erie plant. But soon afterward their full acquisition of Griswold, another company, Textron, bought both Griswold and Wagner, signaling the terminate of their quality cast fe skillet line.

Wapak is some other Ohio-based bandage iron producer that flourished in the early on 1900s. Its life bridge was curt, and the plant closed in 1926. While the company wasn't around long, it did get out a treasure trove of collectibles in its wake. Casting flaws and ghost images indicate less-than-perfect manufacturing controls, which most likely led to the demise of the company only also add together character to the cookware however in existence.

And that brings us to Club, the only continuously owned cast iron cookware manufacturer in America. Founded in Due south Pittsburgh, Tennessee, in 1891, the company is notwithstanding family owned and however producing cast iron. Advancements in engineering science and enhancements of cast iron accept enabled the visitor to remain competitive in the field of bandage iron cookware.

Identifying Antique Cast Atomic number 26 Skillets

Look at the bottom of a cast atomic number 26 skillet. If you run across a slash several inches long but no other manufacturing markings, you've striking the jackpot. That slash is known as a "gate mark," and it's a leftover from the casting process. Information technology also means the skillet was produced prior to 1880.

If yous see a band around the lesser rim of the skillet, you're as well in antique state. Since stoves were originally made of woods, the "rut rings" were incorporated into the cast iron design to lift the pan then it wouldn't touch the woods stove straight. Since the heat ring denotes use on a forest stove, it too means the piece is an antique!

"Makers marks," in bandage fe history, non bourbon history, are the easiest fashion to identify antique cast iron. With the name and logo emblazoned on the bottom of the skillet, its origin can exist traced and even dated. While makers marks have undergone continual change, each mark fits onto a timeline for dating.

"Ghost marks" are almost invisible trademarks on the lesser of cast fe skillets that indicate a manufacturer other than that of the company claiming to be the producer. Often, a visitor such equally Wapak bought production from other manufacturers and didn't do a proficient job erasing the original maker's name. Or Wapak simply copied another company's mold and used it for its own production. Curiously, this error, or trademark infringement, adds to the value of the cast fe.

And, finally, the "Fabricated in America" label. Due to trade requirements instituted in the 1960s, the place of manufacture of each item was required. If your skillet indicates its place of origin, it's not an antique.

Griswold Identifying Marks

Similar many manufacturing companies, their identifying marks changed over time. Original Griswold pieces didn't even place the maker; instead, they simply used the place of origin ‒ "Erie" ‒ molded onto the base of the cookware. The Erie mark indicates that the piece was made somewhere between the late 1880 or early 1900s. Other pieces utilise names other than Griswold.

Logo marks on Griswold products are many, and each indicates its value in today's antiquarian market. A spider in a spider web with the word "Erie" inscribed on the spider is a true treasure. It is considered to be 1 of the most valuable collectors' items. Made around 1906, the skillet would probably bring a few yard dollars at sale.

Some other collectible from Griswold is the Iron Mountain line. Featuring a heat ring around the lesser and a distinctive handle with an oval cutout, the bottom features a four-digit identifying number and an italicized pan number.

Other Griswold products' origins are sketchy, and experts employ a roundabout way to identify them. At times, the company produced the "Victor" line betwixt the years 1890 and 1950 and identified Griswold as the manufacturer. Some of the Victor products don't recognize Griswold as the producer.

Further confusion with the Griswold line are the names "All-time Made," "Good Wellness," "Cliff Cornell," "Andresen," "Puritan" and "Merit." The Puritan and Merit pans that have product numbers on the bottom are recognized as being produced by Griswold.

Interpreting Wapak Markings

Looking at the different Wapak logos inscribed on the bottom of their skillets is like reading a code transmission for the Central Intelligence Agency! Seven variations of the logo can exist traced back to age and, thus rarity. Six of those logos utilize the name Wapak, while the seventh, Oneta, indicates a lower-priced and bottom-quality product.

Ghost marks from the Griswold and Wagner companies are a mutual feature of antique Wapak skillets. Casting flaws are another marker of Wapak cast iron, oft reducing the cost of the collectible only making it more reasonable for the lover of vintage cast fe.

If you lot run into the head of an Indian on your skillet, known in collectors' circles as the "Indian head," "Indian medallion" or "Native American," you are in luck. These logos mark the most valuable of the Wapak skillets and top the rank as highly treasured collectibles.

The Wapak "chicken foot" logo indicates the skillet is the second-nigh valuable of the line. Information technology extends the letter "P" in the word Wapak at the bottom and splits, like a split hair.

Other Wapak logos include the proper name written in block letters and forming a slight arch and another in block letters in a direct line. The Wapak "Z" logo indicates manufacture between 1903‒1926, and the "tapered" lettering of the company name indicates production took place between 1912‒1926.

Club Cookware Through History

Sold even today in the finer cookware shops, Club can be called the only remaining manufacturer of original bandage iron cookware. Not all the pieces came with identifying marks, just there are some clues that lead to a proper name and place.

If you see a oestrus ring on the bottom of the skillet and no other markings, look for notches in that heat ring. One or more than notches tell you that the skillet is vintage Order and was probably produced in the 1930s. Three notches with the words "Made in U.s.a." tell you it's a piece made in the 1960s by Guild.

An identifying mark that has evolved since Lodge started producing cast atomic number 26 cookware is its handle. Forged in the shape of a teardrop, the Club handle is its most obvious mark only doesn't indicate age. Expect on the handle for a raised number, a modest molder'southward mark on the lesser at approximately vi o'clock, or a T-shape that appears on the lesser of the handle about the joint with the skillet. All are indicators that the piece was made past Lodge and is most likely vintage.

Treasure hunters may find a skillet with no marks other than a raised letter on the bottom and on the handle. They are in possession of a skillet made before 1910 by Blacklock, the foundry that formed the base of what is at present Gild in the cast iron business. Still family-endemic, Society has evolved with the times and technology and remains competitive in the business of cast iron cookware.

References

Resource

Writer Bio

My seventh grade English instructor didn't realize what she was unleashing when she called me her "writer," only the word crept into my brain. I DID become a writer. Of ad copy, dialogue and long-term story for several network lather operas, mag articles and high-calorie contents for the cookbook: Cooking: It Own't Rocket Science, a bestseller on Amazon! When I'1000 non writing, I'g cooking!

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE