no name flat bottom 5qt dutch oven

KevM

Member
hello all, I have acquired a pile of cast iron most with no names so im hoping you all can help out a bit with age an manufacture. the first one I have is a 5 qt dutch oven with an E on the bottom and drip rings on the inside of the lid. any help would be great.

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It's Wagner-made, after the Griswold acquisition. The lid is from an altered old Griswold high dome pattern. The pan either from a Griswold pattern with markings removed or an existing unmarked Wagner, probably the latter by the bail. By the markings of the pan, I'd say early 1960s.
 
Yep, I have to agree with Doug. I had one just like it, glass lid though. Best I could identify was a with was a Wagner. Lack of grooves on the ears and the tab on the bail. Got $12 on eBay for it.
 
It does resemble my griswold I have. The ears on the put are pretty much identical and the lid is pretty close except the griswold symbol in the center. I have seen the ones that say wagner ware griswold on them with made in the usa on the bottom. One question I have is what is the tab on the pots for? This one doesn't have one some do and some don't
 
It's a pouring assist handle. Some DOs, like BSR's, also have a pour spout opposite it.
 
It's a pouring assist handle. Some DOs, like BSR's, also have a pour spout opposite it.

Oh that seems logical.......should have guessed on that one

---------- Post added at 12:33 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:27 PM ----------

Yep, I have to agree with Doug. I had one just like it, glass lid though. Best I could identify was a with was a Wagner. Lack of grooves on the ears and the tab on the bail. Got $12 on eBay for it.

Sorry for all questions. I have used cast iron but never got into the collecting side of it.
When you say grooves on the ears are you talking about the groove where the bail lays on the ear? The tab on the bail, is this the notch in the center to hang it on a hook to keep the bail centered on the hook?
 
The grooved tops of the bail attachments allow the wire handle to rest completely flat, instead of otherwise slightly propped up. The bail tab referred to is that bend on the one end of the handle that serves as a stop in the vertical position, also to assist pouring. Sometimes it's these small details that help point to who made what, or when.
 
The grooved tops of the bail attachments allow the wire handle to rest completely flat, instead of otherwise slightly propped up. The bail tab referred to is that bend on the one end of the handle that serves as a stop in the vertical position, also to assist pouring. Sometimes it's these small details that help point to who made what, or when.


did most of the older cast iron have the grooves on the bail attachment and no bail tab when Wagner and Griswold were separate companies. so I If see one with out the grooves and a bail tab its not very old?
 
There is a bit of variation. The better, name makers back in the day would likely have produced DOs with grooved bail attachment tops, and some with the bent wire detent. Neither feature was especially patent-worthy, so they would have easily been copied by others. Although Griswold did hold the patent seen here: https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/pdfs/US1333917.pdf which features a unique mechanism to lock the bail in the vertical position for pouring. But, yes, newer and cheaper examples will often lack these seemingly minor amenities.

It's not so much that the two things alone indicated Wagner, but the markings as well. Even the shape of the assist tab can often help confirm an unmarked piece's maker by comparing it to marked versions.
 
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