Old Lodge Maybe?

[TerranceB]

Hello all, first post on here. I have some new cast iron but I recently got my hands on this old skillet which has sparked my interest. I read through the site info and looked at the pics trying to ID and date the thing, so I’m now partly educated and dangerous lol. The skillet has a raised “8” on the handle which is about 5/8” in size. The raised “CG” molders mark on the bottom is slightly bigger, almost 3/4“. Outside heat ring and no other markings from what I can tell. The hole in the handle has some rough edges. I haven’t cleaned it yet so I’m not sure if that’s just buildup, chipped or just the way it was made.

I’m guessing it’s a very old Lodge from what I've seen but obviously wanted some expert opinions on what you all think. Any thoughts on how old, who made it or it’s value? If it’s as old as I think it is, would you clean it up and use it or leave it alone? Thanks for any input.

https://imgur.com/a/ZAtrh3d

[Greg Brunett]

Welcome to the site you will never be the same now since you have an intrest in iron now.

I am pretty confident that is not a lodge. I cannot positively id it, but Doug will likely be along soon. He knows more than just about anyone on here. As far as cleaning it, If you are unsure of the skillets origin it is typically recommended to strip it and re season before use.

[Doug D.]

This pan falls into the realm of what many assume (or hope) is a Blacklock, the predecessor of Lodge. The RB shows a substantially similar pan along with verbiage that might make one infer it is a Blacklock, although it doesn't explicitly say that. The pan shown in the book differs only slightly in that it has a single, smaller molder's mark letter like early Lodges have. Nevertheless, pans like this with the larger double letters have been lumped together into the "possible Blacklock" category. But since there have never been any skillets marked Blacklock to compare it to, and Lodge apparently didn't keep anything for posterity's sake, we'll likely never know for absolute certain.