Mi-Pet?

I thought that these were common. I've seen them all over. But I can't seem to find any information about them!

Mi-Pet. Keeps Food Tasty. The Western Foundry Co., Chicago.

I have one in a #3. I can find pictures online, but no information about the age or the company. Mine has a heat ring, although it looks unused... like it came from Cracker Barrel or something.
 
I was at a flea market today, saw a #8 Mi-Pet skillet but not knowing anything about the brand passed on it without even asking about the price. Afterward I stopped at my brother's place and saw an oval roaster and a dutch oven being displayed in his living room, both Mi-Pet. All three pieces looked comparable to Wagner and Griswold in quality. I love the look of their lids!
 
I was at a flea market today, saw a #8 Mi-Pet skillet but not knowing anything about the brand passed on it without even asking about the price. Afterward I stopped at my brother's place and saw an oval roaster and a dutch oven being displayed in his living room, both Mi-Pet. All three pieces looked comparable to Wagner and Griswold in quality. I love the look of their lids!
So, they made big iron too, huh? Odd that there is so little information about them! I love that slogan, "Keeps Food Tasty" :p
 
I have a #8 Mi-Pet skillet that doesn't say western foundry , but "quintuplet cooking utensil". I have owened it since the 1990's. I can find next to nothing on western foundry, however my best guess is these pans were made in the 1930's. My bases for this is the Dionne quintuplets born in 1934. Back than it was big news to have five identicals. It seem everyone tried to make a buck off them. Why not through the term on the bottom of a skillet in hopes of selling more pans.
 
I learned a little more about the Western Foundry of Chicago. Not a lot, but it all adds up, I guess.

They were around in 1896, as shown by this news story about the foundry being robbed at gunpoint of $1,600 by two men, one in a dress suit, who escaped in a buggy. The buggy broke down, so they buggy-jacked a milk wagon.

The story gives the foundry address as what appears to be 3840 South Albany Ave. It also says that the foundry was "one of the oldest and wealthiest of its kind in Chicago" (http://tinyurl.com/pgtplps)

I learned that one Paul Melicharek, who passed away on July 10, 1981 at age 85, had been a core maker for Western Foundry. (http://tinyurl.com/nh6se3e)

It seems that the company was hit by numerous strikes in the '40's
October 9, 1941 500 men, 8 day strike settled. (http://tinyurl.com/ov2rcds ). That story gives their address as 3634 S. Kedzie Ave.


In 1943, they settled a strike involving 450 men.

And I learned from many news accounts that they were still around in 1944, when they had 400 on strike. Apparently there were many strikes going on all over the country at the time, and Western was simply reported as one of them.

They brought a lawsuit in 1946 and a rehearing was denied in 1949. The article states that Western Foundry was incorporated in Chicago in 1925, but that was a reorganization of a predecessor corporation of similar name, organized under the laws of Illinois in 1892.

So... we have some interesting stories, the dates 1892-at least 1949, and two addresses. For what its worth.
 
I tried looking around for any info on Western Foundry when this thread first started but I got nothing after the Western Foundry Co. v. Wicker case from 1949. Big case about shareholder rights, tons of google hits... then nothing. The company just vanishes.
 
I tried looking around for any info on Western Foundry when this thread first started but I got nothing after the Western Foundry Co. v. Wicker case from 1949. Big case about shareholder rights, tons of google hits... then nothing. The company just vanishes.
Yeah, I know. Which is probably why it interests me so much. I love a mystery.

I wonder if anybody can find out when they actually closed the doors. We now know when they opened, and that they at least still had lawyers in 1949.

---------- Post added at 11:32 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:29 PM ----------

By the way, Bonnie... I have learned that she is a local woman... not far from where I live at all. She has really cultivated the market, having done interviews for a number of high-end magazines and blogs, and has clients nationwide that won't buy from anyone else. Her prices are exorbitant, but she is also highly respected by those with the means to do business with her. A friend of mine is a friend of hers.
 
March 3, 1014, P.J. Hennan, bookkeeper for Western Foundry Company was arrested for obtaining money under false pretenses. Alleged to haven taken checks from outgoing mail. (http://tinyurl.com/p5wdqv5)

May 26, 1916, The Western Foundry Co. was hit by a strike of 1,100 employees. (http://tinyurl.com/o9l7nlw)

June 15, 1916, the Western Foundry Co. nears the close of its second month, with the 3,250 strikers as insistent as ever of their demands.

The men who were unorganized when they struck, because the meager wages paid them for the laborious health-wrecking work would not afford them a decent living, are now welded into a solid union. They have determined tha tit is better to starve in a fight for right than to starve as slaves of merciless crushers of labor. (http://tinyurl.com/o74xak8)

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I still have been unable to locate one single advertisement for the company or their Mi-Pet "Keeps Food tasty" cookware!
 
I also just got my hands on one of these. Has anyone found anymore information on this company? The one that I have is a deep skillet "8" I would love to know how old it is.
 
Yeah, it seems that the only info I can find is regarding labor strikes. I found this one and it was in really good shape before I even cleaned it. I don't think it has hardly even been used. I would love to be able to date this thing. It doesn't have any "Made in USA" marking or anything like that. Given that, I assume its pre-1960. Would there be another ID marks to look for to be able to narrow down the year of production?
Thanks!!
 

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Sadly, short of going into a Chicago public library and digging through local newspapers on microfilm I doubt you'll learn much more than what you've gleaned from this thread. I'm not even sure they did cookware the entire time they were in business but it's a pretty safe bet your pan was made no later than 1950.
 
Thats what I was afraid of!! Thank You for your help. Pre-1950 I makes it a pretty old piece. But I would love to find out more about the company. Thank You for your input. I do appreciate it!
 
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