Hello from Minnesota

Tom Silver

New member
Hi,

My name is Tom and I live in the Twin Cities in Minnesota. I came to be interested in cast iron cookware collecting a few years ago. I had been using a skillet that had belonged to my Mother for about the last 40 years or so but, other than using it, I never really gave it much thought as to its brand or its history. One day I paid attention to the logo on the bottom, finding a small Griswold logo. I couldn't recall having seen that brand around so I went looking online. I was not prepared for the widespread interest in Griswold items in particular and cast iron cookware in general that I discovered! :shock:

I happened to do a search on ebay for Griswold and was at once somewhat overwhelmed at the number and diversity of the pieces I found. Once I saw a Griswold waffle iron, that was it! I had to have one! Since that first one, which was painted as a piece of decorative art and which tested the abilities of a fledgling restorer, I have accumulated about 25 more of various ages and patterns.

I have kept my interest in cast iron collecting mostly confined to Griswold items, but I certainly won't turn away from another brand if the price is right and the piece is interesting. I have skillets, the waffle irons mentioned above, a few meat grinders, several dutch ovens, two fruit and lard presses, a number of popover/muffin pans, some corn stick pans, and some griddles. I'm currently attempting to assemble a set of 2nd-series "ERIE" skillets, of which I still need to find a couple.

On another forum of which I am a member, we always welcome pictures of people's cast iron. If there's any interest, I can post some of the pieces I have. Let me know. ;)
 
Welcome, Tom. It's always great to hear how each collector came to the hobby. My own collection now numbers in the hundreds of pieces, but the most special one is the Griswold #8 LBL that belonged to my grandmother, gas pitted though it may be. It sets flat, and is always on my stovetop, ready for daily use.

Pictures are always welcome, although space to attach photos is limited, so I encourage linking to photos hosted on services like flickr and Google's Picasa.
 
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