Interesting Griswold

CJMunnich

Member
Found this today at an antique mall. They wanted $40 for it. I passes because I didn't know if it was worth it. The back looks like an unmarked Wagner, I'm guessing it is from the period when Wagner was making Griswolds.
 

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There is enough empirical evidence to support unmarked pieces made in the Ohio plant after the Griswold acquisition having been sold as both Wagner and Griswold via that very mechanism, paper labels. Doesn't make them or pieces marked Griswold from the same plant truly Griswold in the eye of collectors, though.
 
I think faking labels like that would be pretty hard. I'd want to sniff at it in person before deciding for sure, but my antiquer's instincts say it's authentic.
 
Hi, Dan and CJ. Do you mean by "new vintage" old but unused? That is what the pan that started this thread looked like to me. In which case, it may really be collectible for the label, if not the skillet's provenance. Just asking...::)
 
Hi, Dan and CJ. Do you mean by "new vintage" old but unused? That is what the pan that started this thread looked like to me. In which case, it may really be collectible for the label, if not the skillet's provenance. Just asking...::)
I didn't use those words, but I think all we're saying is that it is a Wagner, not a true Griswold. Probably late 50's?

1957 - Wagner division of Randall purchases Griswold Manufacturing from McGraw Edison.
1959 - Textron, Inc. acquires Randall, including rights to Wagner and Griswold.
~1960's Made in U.S.A. added, but isn't shown on the skillet in question
 
Sharon, the answer is sorta. New vintage is last years wine. Old vintage is a 1951 Ford. I think what was meant was NOS - new old stock. An old skillet that has never been used; which is what an old label implies.

Hilditch
 
The term, "vintage" by itself is completely without meaning. You may as well say "era" (or "period", which IS sometimes used by itself, as in "a period piece").
 
"Vintage" by itself is a winemaking term denoting in what year the grapes that made the wine were harvested. It has also come to be used to describe objects of a time period considered to be the apex of their production quality, e.g. "vintage" electric guitars. We apply it in similar fashion to name brand cast iron cookware generally produced before 1957.
 
"Vintage" by itself is a winemaking term denoting in what year the grapes that made the wine were harvested. It has also come to be used to describe objects of a time period considered to be the apex of their production quality, e.g. "vintage" electric guitars. We apply it in similar fashion to name brand cast iron cookware generally produced before 1957.
I say that the term "vintage" requires a year or a period. Regarding your wine example... which vintage are you referring to? 1965 or 1966? The seasons were quite different.

Your point about the apex of quality is a good one, and I can buy that, but only as an abstraction of the original meaning.

The latter usage, "vintage cookware" is exactly the misuse that I'm referring to. If you mean the 1957 vintage, then you should say "vintage 1957" Simply saying "vintage" does not imply 1957.

I bought a "vintage" bicycle today. What year do you think it was made? Almost all bicycles made today are of vastly superior quality than those of the era this one came from, yet we still call it "vintage"
 
Vintage is like the term "super cute", it's subjective and almost always wrong. I've come to ignore the word and look for the clues. NOS however has an objective meaning.
 
The word has a much broader meaning and varies depending upon usage and context.

vin·tage (vĭn′tĭj)

n.
1. The yield of wine or grapes from a vineyard or district during one season.
2. Wine, usually of high quality, identified as to year and vineyard or district of origin.
3. The year or place in which a wine is bottled.
4.
a. The harvesting of a grape crop.
b. The initial stages of winemaking.

5. Informal
a. A group or collection of people or things sharing certain characteristics.
b. A year or period of origin: a car of 1942 vintage.
c. Length of existence; age.

adj.
1. Of or relating to a vintage.
2. Characterized by excellence, maturity, and enduring appeal; classic.
3. Old or outmoded.
4.
a. Of the best: played songs that were vintage Cole Porter.
b. Of the most distinctive: "Fatalism has coexisted with vintage American overconfidence" (Thomas Oliphant).
 
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