Grandmother's Skillet -- ID help.

P

Pat_A

Member
This skillet was my Grandmother's and is the largest one I own.

Looks like an outside (?) heat ring.

The only marking (pictured) is 12 7/14 --which seems odd, why not 12 1/2 ?

The pour spouts are very small/shallow.

Could this be a (gasp) foreign skillet ? We've been using this one for some time and really do enjoy it, would just like to know more about it.

Any and all help would be greatly appreciated.

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Pat, that a great skillet! A real workhorse in the kitchen. Skillets that have passed down are a real treasure.
 
SpurgeonH said:
Pat, that a great skillet! A real workhorse in the kitchen. Skillets that have passed down are a real treasure.
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Agreed. My Grandmother passed in 2006 and we've been using this skillet for a solid decade. I would never get rid of this skillet.


KevinE said:
I think you'll find that if you strip it the bottom it says 12 7/16, but the picture does make it look like 12 7/14. FWIW, since it was your grandmother's skillet, I wouldn't strip it. I'd just keep on using it. You can find out a lot more about BSR here: http://www.modemac.com/cgi-bin/wiki.pl/Birmingham_Stove_and_Range
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Thanks for the link ! No plans on stripping the pan, that carbon has 50+ years of memories.
 
Pat_A said:
Thanks KevinE, from the article, I would date it to the early 1960s (small pour spouts, no Made in USA [post 1967]), correct ?

What's with the 7/14 fraction ? That's weird.

The pan is very heavy, which would eliminate the possibility of it being an older, well-finished piece.
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It may not say Made in USA but BSR didn't put that on every pan post-1967, there are plenty of examples made after then lacking that mark. I have a few, including a 12 7/16" #10. Made in USA markings were not a regulation, merely marketing.
 
EricC said:
It may not say Made in USA but BSR didn't put that on every pan post-1967, there are plenty of examples made after then lacking that mark. I have a few, including a 12 7/16" #10. Made in USA markings were not a regulation, merely marketing.
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A "Cast Iron Chaos" video that I watched stated that the Made in USA imprint was a USA trade regulation whereby the country of origin had to be emblazoned on anything post-1967. I can see your point about "Made in USA" being a marketing scheme as well, as things made in this country would be a source of pride (especially things made 40+ years ago) and would help the product sell itself.

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SpurgeonH said:
A real workhorse in the kitchen.
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The workhorse in action : Tonight's supper of steak-tips and stir-fried vegetables.

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It doesn't appear any trade regulation demanded the country of origin be branded into the product itself. It could have been on a label or the carton. This one still may have it under the crud at 12 o'clock, though.
 
Pat_A said:
A "Cast Iron Chaos" video that I watched stated that the Made in USA imprint was a USA trade regulation whereby the country of origin had to be emblazoned on anything post-1967.
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That video must be dated - that is no longer believed to be the case and no regulation has ever been found in the books. The Cast Iron Chaos link that Kevin posted earlier, that page modemac keeps updated. On the subject, it says this:

"While a BS&R pan marked with MADE IN USA can be guaranteed to have a manufacture date later than 1967, there have been individual pieces discovered that did not bear this mark. Other identifying traits on these pans still suggest they were cast in the 1970s or later, in spite of the lack of this mark. This is seen as proof that there was no law or government ruling declaring all cast iron to bear this mark. Rather, it was voluntarily added by manufacturers as a marketing strategy."

BTW, my pan like that is my favorite user, my main go-to. It's a great one.
 
Doug D. said:
It doesn't appear any trade regulation demanded the country of origin be branded into the product itself. It could have been on a label or the carton. This one still may have it under the crud at 12 o'clock, though.
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Good point --Made in USA could have been on the packing material.

Since I'm probably not going to give this skillet a cleaning, I'll never know if those words are under the 12 o'clock position.
 
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