Old #14 Camp Oven

Ben Hills

New member
Hello everyone this is my first post to the forum, but I have been using this site to research CI for several years. I recently acquired an unusual #14 camp oven with a two-piece handle. I think this means it's really old, but I am frequently wrong. Does anyone have any info on the maker and/or the age of this piece? Thanks!

http://imgur.com/a/NmvF6sO
 
Old Lodge catalogs are a bit inconclusive when trying to ID whether a CO is a "Dutch Oven with Legs" or from of the old "Country Hollow Ware" line. Dimensions are given, but the question remains, when having only one piece at hand, where does one measure depth to determine if a #14 is a "shallow (3-5/8"D) or a "deep" (4"D). Illustrations (not photos) don't lend a high degree of certainty, either. Lodge was apparently not in the habit of putting dates on their catalogs, as well, leaving the reader to make educated guesses in many cases. From the style of markings and bail handle attachments, I'd place this one 1940s-50s.
 
That dating considered the markings and the characteristics of the DO and lid together, and as they pertained to BSR. Large format pieces often didn't have patterns regularly updated to coincide with those of the majority of a line, with the expense weighed against the lower relative sales volume of those types of pieces vs. high volume pieces like stove ware.
 
As noted above, Lodge catalogs used illustrations, not photos, and the same ones from one catalog to the next for many years. There would likely not have been any overarching reason at the time for them to replace them over changes in small details like handle style or raised numbering vs. incised. A late-1960s catalog still shows a two-prong handle style, but they may very well have changed to a single-tapered mechanism by then.
 
Yes basically I am still at square one because I knew it was pre-1967 due to not having "made in usa" stamp. Just curious if any members on here have a similar CO or know of them. Thanks!
 
It has no CO under the 14 on the bottom, either, which would have started late 50s - early 60s. If there are no molder's marks anywhere, it's probably 1950s.
 
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