I.D. Help Please....

[CDLaine]

Backstory... after Mom and Dad passed , I served as executor of the estate. Our childhood home from the 50's was one of the items I needed to find new owners for...but, my older brother (sentimental) was not ready to part with the home. So, I sold him the home and all within.... today he sent me photos of some of the cast iron he now owns...

Can someone help identify the foundry/date range of dutch oven with lid in the photos. Mom and Dad used cast iron all thru my childhood. No collector pieces ,but, everyday meal prep. They were into cast iron before cast iron was cool.

Thank you.

Charles
http://imgur.com/a/FaaMO

[D_Madden]

The lid is obviously Lodge... can't really see enough of the bottom to make a determination.

[CDLaine]

Thanks D. Madden.

I thought same , but, as I'm 0-for-20 here, I thought safer to let someone else do the identifying.I think I can barely make out a "U.S.A." so that may narrow the time range. My brother could care less about the cleaning and seasoning of cast iron, like many, he just uses it as is...as did Mom and Dad.

Thank you for your help.

Charles

[Ty L.]

That's definitely a lodge DO. On the same arc and to the right of the USA there'll be what I've always assumed is a 2-digit alphanumeric pattern number followed by an 8DO. Made in the 1960's-1980's.

Mom and Dad spent years building up that seasoning so no need to strip it.

[CDLaine]

Ty,

Thank you for the additional information. And, "Mom and Dad spent years building up that seasoning so no need to strip it." ...exactly what i said to my brother. . He says, "someday I will pass it on to my kids".... as it should be.

Charles

[Doug D.]

I urge people to revere the iron itself and not so much what's stuck to it. Romanticizing a previous owner's seasoning, however, is so common, new users often just accept the notion as gospel. But even my own grandmother's skillet, which I use 3-4 times a week, got stripped to bare iron and started over. If you are sure of a seasoning's history and it's of a condition in which you have confidence in safely using it, it would of course be your choice.

[CDLaine]

Wisdom. Thank you for sharing your opinion Mr. Doug. I'm not sure if my sibling even knows how to lye bath/electrolysis treat cast iron...so the dutch oven will probably just keep getting used as is.

Charles