Any Suggestions About the Identity

W

WallyF

Member
Received this from my brother in SC yesterday. What a mess! Guess I'm going to have to set up electrolysis. The only visible info right how is "8 H" on the bottom near the handle.

Any ideas of who made it before I'm finished with the lye bath and electrolysis?

http://imgur.com/a/pt3QE
 
It is a BSR,check the unmarked section at front page,you will find a lot of information abouth those skillets and more,
 
Thanks Edgar.

When I looked at that section last night, thought it might be the Red Mountain or Century series by the way the rib in the handle meets the pan. I'm so new to this, that I didn't feel confident enough to suggest it.

Hope it cleans up well and I can restore it to "usability".
 
Wally, it looks like Red Mountain to me. The 8 looks a little irregular (handwritten), but it's hard to tell from the pictures. Looks like there might be some pitting issues, too. Again, hard to tell. The pictures are really dark on my phone.

I have a couple of Red Mountain #8s. They are smooth as silk on the cooking surface and are great users!

(Everybody knows Red Mountain in Alabama produced the highest quality iron ore in the world. So says the boy from Alabama. Ha!)
 
Looks early BSR with the larger pour spouts. Hopefully it will clean up good enough for a user. It looks like it had a thick layer of seasoning on it once upon a time but has spent some time in a rough environment. The black stuff looks like dried up seasoning or food that was left in it. Not sure from the photo but the end opposite the handle is showing rust or fire damage. I have rescued worse looking pans that turned out ok for users.
 
The spouts don't look all that big to me. Coupled with the marking style, I'd say early automation, early 1950s.
 
Doug D. said:
The spouts don't look all that big to me. Coupled with the marking style, I'd say early automation, early 1950s.
Click to expand...

Doug, if you could please clarify for me...

My understanding of the BSR timeline is that they switched branding from RM to Century in 1957 but otherwise kept the same patterns and manual process, then automation was introduced from 1966 - 1968.

I've seen you date several times recently some BSR automation pieces being from the 1950s. I trust your authority on the subject over mine, just curious - has new info been uncovered that invalidated the previous timeline? If so, what is the BSR timeline now?
 
There are two automation points in BSR history. The first in the early 1950s before the branding change to Century ca. 1954. The second came when the first DISA machines were acquired in 1966. Pieces which appear to be the product of the early automation still have the older RM style markings, but more neatly inscribed. The DISA product have the smaller font and the additional dimensional markings.

http://www.castironcollector.com/birmingham.php
 
Wally,
This might help ... here are two #8 BSR skillets I've recently acquired. Note that both have fairly irregular numbers but the one on the right has larger pour spouts. I'm assuming it is older than the one on the left.

https://imgur.com/a/hDGSn
 
same for me, the rookie Jeff. Although the right skillet in Spurgeon's picture does seem to have a larger pour spout when viewing from the bottom of the skillet.

Thanks to you all. I hope to start electrolysis tomorrow (waiting for my battery charger to arrive). Will post pictures of the results in a few days.
 
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