BEST MADE without S & R Co?

RLMuse

Member
Yesterday I bought a skillet with markings on the back:
BEST MADE
No 7
1237

The shape is identical to my large logo Griswold No 8, only smaller as the No 7 should be.

The handle has the identical teardrop opening, and the same small under ridge ending in a small triangle flat area. There is no size nember marked on the top of the handle either which is consistsnt with the BEST MADE S & R Co.

Is this a Griswold skillet made for Sears but not marked as such?

Did Sears sell a BEST MADE without store markings, and if so what timeframe?
 
In the Griswold pattern number listing in the back of the blue book, all the numbers listed for Best Made pieces say "Best Made S R & Co. (for Sears)" with the exception of the #7/1237 skillet, the #8/1242 skillet cover, and a #10/1244 skillet, whose listings just say "Best Made". (They also list a #10/1240 skillet as "Best Made S R & Co.") The p/n listing also has #1257 "Bacon and Egg Fryer Best Made S R & Co.", but the photo of one on pg. 41 does not have S R & Co. on it.

Whether that means Sears didn't market those particular pieces or that the authors are simply noting they lack the S R & Co. designation is unclear. In either case, the #7 and other peices lacking that marking is apparently not unknown.
 
All the BEST MADE pieces are made by Griswold for Sears since "Best Made" is a tradename of Sears. I think the cast iron pattern numbers came mostly from me and I would write down a short description of how I saw the markings. Some pans have the SR&Co and some don't for some reason. I don't know if all pans were made with and without the "S.R. & Co." on them.
 
Thanks, wasn't sure but was willing to lay out $20.00 on an educated guess.
On my glass cooktop it has about a 1/64" or less tiny warp, so it isn't 100 percently flat, but it doesn't wobble either. It is just a little easier to turn than my perfectly flat skillets. Worked great on a pineapple upside down cake I made this evening.
 
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