Cast Iron Cookware News: Vol. I No. 5

27
CAST IRON COOKWARE NEWS		In this issue: Letters to the editor...........................p.28 Recipe, buttermilk egg bread for Griswold cake molds...................p.29 Early Griswold advertising card.........p.30 PAGOMA waffle iron.......................p.30 Wagner No.1 handled gem pan..........p.31 Buy-Sell-Trade.................................p.32

Vol. 1 No. 5

Number 5

November 1988

above and below Favorite Piqua Ware BAK-N-EGG pan. Date of manufacture is unknown but I would guess it to be somewhere in the 1920-33 period. Some really unique items of cast iron cookware were made by the Favorite Stove & Range Co. in Piqua, Ohio, which were not made by any other companies: A 9-cup deep popover, a broiler skillet, a 2-loaf Corn Bread Pan, and others. Although an exciting and unexpected discover?', this pan was also a great disappointment as it had been bought about 15 minutes before I saw it—by a friend. A month goes by and same friend finds another in another state and trades it to me—happy ending. This pan measures 7-3/8" by 13-l/'3" overall and is 7/8" deep.

From the Editor...
Does it seem that there aren't as many good pieces of Griswold or other makes of cast iron cook- ware showing up at sales and fleamarkets this year? It seems that the number of collectors is growing rapidly as the number of pieces to go around is dwindling. The result is: We have to look harder, pay more, and do without many of those great finds of one or two years ago, Happy hunting!

above A very unusual Griswold popover pan. The No10 popover pan was made in more variations than any other Griswold muffin pan. When found, this different version looked like a nice pan, but cleaning, unfortunateiy, revealed a big crack in one of the cups. Unsaleable and unwanted, it met its fate: The four corner cups, including the cracked one were carefully sawn off to give a one-of-a-kind pan.

CAST IRON COOKWARE NEWS is published bi-monthly by Steve Stephens. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher. Subscriptions are $15 and begin with the January issue and end Dec. 31st. Regardless of when you subscribe you will receive any back issues for the year. Send subscriptions and all material to: Steve Stephens, 28 Angela Ave., San Anselmo, CA 94960 (415) 453-7790

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

A few weeks ago at a flea mrket we purchased a #8 skillet. It has a vent along the side like it was meant to be an odorless skillet, the handle is vented. Is it Griswold; an early version? I have never seen anything like it. Dick & Esther Miller, PA Dick and Esther sent a rubbing of the skillet and a sketch of the handle. Rubbings are hard to reproduce here due ro their being full size. I have had other inquiries about this VICTOR skillet. No, it is not Griswold but it is an odorless skillet designed to be used with a cover. The patent, however, does not refer to the odorless feature, but to the handle: I have two similar VICTOR skillets in my collection; a size 7 without the patent date and a size 9 with the date. Placement of the markings is different than on Dick and Esther's skillet. I also have an old, regular style skillet with the same patent date, but the handle on it, although of the same basic design, is solid but with depressions where the cutouts would be. Griswold made their VICTOR skillets quite early (c.1890)'s) which were marked "VICTOR" in quotes just like the early "ERIE" psns were and with the same nice, fine, smooth casting quality and detail. -ed.

Regarding "burn the piece in a fire" (CICN pg.5), I agree with you and would like to emphasize the danger in this method. I have never seen a muffin pan that has not warped when cleaned by this methodl This is a very poor method which I would never attempt! I know a collector in the south who has a severely warped skillet hanging in his wall just to remind him never to try that method again. You made a statement which I definitely disagree with: "Neither fine nor coarse wire wheels will damage the surface of iron..." A coarse brush will scratch the mirror like finish on the inside of somne skillets. The finish I am referring to are those which are characteristic of early Griswold skillets such as ERIE, slant logo, and many Victor skillets. Also, when you say "coarse brush" I presume you are not talking about industrial quality coarse brushes. I know a flea market dealer who cleans all of his iron with what I presume to be an industrial quality brush. The iron utensils look like they were cleaned with a rasp. Used with care and discretion, the above methods may be OK. I am concerned about the novice who, loaded with enthusiasm, charges in. I believe the results could be very disappointing and, in fact, disastrous. Dave Smith, NY

Thanks, Dave, for bringing up these important points. Burning any piece in a fire, I agree, should be used only as a last resort. I know a collector who ruined a Filley muffin pan by getting it too hot. If you watch your piece and get it evenly dull cherry red and no hotter there should be no problem. But the margin for error is too small to take chances so it's best to stick with lye or self-cleaning oven methods. For wire brushing my iron I use a homeowners grade 6" wire brush, both fine and coarse, and have no problems with scratching with either. A friend uses a heavy duty industrial brush with good results but I have seen scnie evidence of "scratching" when he gets too aggressive with a piece. I agree that the industrial quality coarse brush can scratch a piece so, whatever brush you use, watch its effect on the iron and use it accordingly, -ed.

***** Cast iron cookware marked D.R. SPERRY & CO. was made in Batavia, Illinois. Pieces marked only SPERRY are probably from the same company and of later manufacture. -ed.

Letters to the editor, cont'd p.28 Carolyn Nelson fron Illinois sent me the following recipe along with pictures of her lamb and rabbit mold breads. The pictures would not reproduce well but, believe me, the breads look fabulous. She writes: "I wrapped the breads in cellophane and put them in colorful easter baskets along with little packages of jellies and gave them as gifts. My girlfriend even went so far as to put a ribbon, complete with bell, around the lamb's neck; a cotton ball for the rabbit's tail and used toothpicks to secure raisins for the eyes. I make this same recipe at Xmas dinner with my Santa mold (it' s my dinner center piece) and this year I plan to get a stocking cap and maybe a black belt to dress him up. The possibilities are endless.

RECIPE- Buttermilk Egg Bread for Griswold lamb, rabbit and Santa molds;
5½-6 C. flour 2 t. salt
2 pkg. dry yeast ¼ C. sugar
1½ C. buttermilk 3 eggs ¼ C. butter

Combine 2½ C. flour and yeast; set aside. Heat buttermilk, butter, sugar and salt until warm. Add to dry mixture with the 3 eggs. Beat till moistened, about 3 minutes. Stir in as much remaining flour as you can to make a moderately stiff dough. Shape into a ball, cover, and let rise until doubled, about 1 hour. Punch down and divide in half. Cover, let rest 10 minutes. Spray molds with PAM, If you have only one mold refrigerate half the dough until ready to use; then bring up to room temperature before using (about 15 min.)

Put dough in face side; push into nose (of lamb), feet (of bunny), ears, etc. Cover with back side. Cover vent holes with foil if mold has them. Let rise 20 minutes. Bake at 375F, 30 minutes. Take off one side of mold and bake additional 5 to 10 minutes to brown. Flip over onto other side of mold 5 to 10 min. to brown other side of bread. Cool in (one side only) 20 minutes. Take out, cool conpletely if going to freeze, and wrap tightly. Makes 2 loaves.

***** Correction: On pg. 16 of CICN I wrote that Chuck Horn found a porcelain skillet ashtray for 10 cents. What he actually bought for that price was a mint red and cream; porcelain NoO skillet. Even better yet. -Ed

...On your Skillet Chart (CICN p.3) which is the early handle and the late handle on the sm.IM skillet? Page 119 of Hamed's book shows a No9 Griswold skillet with three holes in the handle. I have a No4 skillet, unmarked, with three holes in the handle. On the botton it has a large 4 at the top and 6?9 at the bottom. Can you tell me anything about this skillet?
Irv Wagenschnur, PA

Several people have asked me about the differences in the late and early handles on the small TM skillets. The earliest handle is virtually the same as the one on the large TM skillet proceeding it. The hole in the handle has a teardrop shape with the end of the hole toward the pan coming to a fairly sharp point. On the later handles the hole in the handle is radiused at both ends with the smaller radius at the pan end. You will also notice that the end of the handle is rounder on the newer handles than the old. There are two slightly different "new" handles. The later one has a groove down the underside terminating in a depression or "thumbprint" next to the bowl of the skillet. Your second question regarding the 669 skillet I could not have answered a month ago but, since then, I have gotten a similar No3 skillet with 668 pattern number. I thought it might be made by Griswold so bought it to compare to some in my Griswold No3 skillet variations pile. Sure enough, it has the same large 3 on the bottom that one of my Good Health (made by Griswold) skillets has. Both these skillets have differently shaped pouring lips that are a bit more pointed than the usual Griswold skillet. However, I have another Good Health skillet with the usual Griswold pouring lips. Both these Good Health skillets have one hole in the handle and pattern #653. I do not know who our 3-hole-handled "no name" skillets were made for or during what period although I would guess it to be around the 1920'.- The skillet pictured on Harned p.119 is a shallow skillet. The handle construction is different than your 3-hold skillet. -ed.

***** ERIE No5 skillet existence verified: I just visited an Oregon collector who has an Erie No5 skillet with inset heat ring and a rather fancy "ERIE" print. Please see my note regarding the Erie No5 skillet on p.17 CICK near botton left. Add No5 Erie skillet to skillet chart, CICN p.3 -ed.

Letters cont'd from p.29 I have a wheat/corn stick pan with the name PURITAN on it. Was it made by Griswold?
Bernard Stoltie, CT

Yes, it was made by Griswold if it is marked No.1270 and is pattern #1513. A pattern number, in any of the several styles of print that was used by Griswold, is a good indication that the piece was made by Griswold. In this case your wheat stick pan was made for Sears Roebuck from about 1932 until 1935. An identical pan bearing the name Merit was made for Sears from about 1936 to 1938. It has the same No. and pattern # as the Puritan pan. From at least 1929 through 1931 another Griswold made wheat stick pan was made for Sears. This one was also No.1270 but had pattern #1270 rather than 1513. This earlier pan is marked S.R. AND CO. BEST MADE WHEAT & CORN STICK PAN and is identical to the Griswold No2700 wheat pan. Best Made, Puritan and Merit were all tradenames used by Sears, but many of the pieces of iron cookware bearing those names were made by, or in, the Favorite foundry, and probably also by Wagner. The clue to a Griswold made piece is in the Griswold style of print on the pan and it will have a Griswold style pattern number. The Puritan and Merit wheat pans differ from the Best Made version in the handles and a minor difference in the wheat pattern. Best Made was Sears top quality ironware followed by Puritan and Merit although all three names were not used in all years,
-ed.

*****

above Photo of a waffle iron which remained a mystery to me until recently when I saw an old store display cabinet in a Nebraska antiques shop with the following information etched in the glass on the front: PAGOMA (shield of quality) Paxton and Gallagher Co. Wholesale Hardware Co. Tenth St. Viaduct Omaha -ed.

Early Griswold advertising card, probably from the time of either the 1893 Chicago Columbian or the 1901 Buffalo Pan American World's Fair. The Griswold plant is shown at Tenth Street between Chestnut and Walnut Streets before being abandoned in 1903 when Griswold took possession of the Shaw Piano Co. manufactory at Tenth and Raspberry Streets. (Card lent by Merl Hostetter of Idaho)

right Photos shewing top and bottom of Wagner No.1 Handled Gem Pan. This particular pan is not marked and I do not know if it was made in a marked version. The Wagner No.2 Handled Got Pan which is similar but with plain, round, deep cups was made both marked and unmarked. Both pans are hard to find.
-ed. Photo courtesy of Chuck and Charlotte Horn

below Reverse side of early Griswold advertising card (front side shown on previous page). Note the number of products listed which are unknown to the Griswold collector: The American Safe Head; Long and Round Adjusters; Shovels; Stove Pipe Shelves; Fire Sets; Boiler Handles; Pokers; Scrapers; Tongs; Umbrella Stands; Copying Presses; Boot Jacks; Nut Crackers; and Tack Hammers. It is likely that some, if not most, of these pieces were marked since all, or most all, of the known pieces on the list are marked. The stamp at the top of the card reads: EXHIBETS AT WORLD'S FAIR, Mfr's Building, Sec. G, Block 4. Catalogue No, 959. Precise dating of this card could be done if one know which World's Fair or could locate a copy of "Catalogue No. 959".