Is Cast Iron Difficult to Find in Your Area?

SShort

Member
I live in East Texas and cast iron is readily available. I can drive a few miles and find lots of quality BSR, older Lodge, the Wagner’s and Griswolds. We have a flea market in Canton, Texas which covers almost 50 acres. I probably saw over 10,000 pieces of cast-iron there last month. The problem here is finding Wapaks, Puritan, Favorite, and a few others. But there is lots and lots and lots of iron here. Wondering what the situation was in your specific location.
 
I think it's nothing more than the biggest companies made the most CI so you see more of their brands. I live 40 miles from the Vollrath foundry (they're still heavy in the cookware business, just not CI). I live a little over 100 miles from Chicago. Despite my close proximity to where they were made, I very rarely find any Vollrath on my CI hunting excursions and only own a couple pieces as a result. Same goes for CHF pieces. On the other hand, I see BSR, Lodge, Wagner, and Griswold just about everywhere I go. On the relatively few opportunities I've had to go CI hunting outside of Wisconsin, I was surprised the proportions by brand didn't seem to vary much. In central PA, for instance, I would have expected to see a lot more Griswold, but it seemed to me to be about the same as anywhere else I've been. Down south? Expected less Wagner & Griswold, more Lodge & BSR, but again, it didn't seem to vary.

Puritan was actually made for Sears at first by Favorite, and later Griswold.
 
I’m in Marietta, GA and my Sales territory covers the west side of the state from Columbus to Chattanooga. Lots of cast iron in antique stores. Don’t usually find any in thrift stores. Most of what I see is Lodge, BSR and a little Wagner. Not much Griswold and when I do see it, the prices are high.
 
I'm in Northern Delaware, just south of Philly, and you rarely see cast iron in thrift stores. You can find pieces in some of the antique stores around here but the items are almost always overpriced. Same with Craigslist. Next week I am going to venture down to lower Delaware and see what some of the shops down there have. Most of what I have seen has been Wagner & Lodge, occasionally a Griswold and BSR.
 
I am in Mass. Quality iron is becoming quite difficult to find. Plenty of it at the antique stores but usually marked well above value considering condition. Craigslist is almost always overpriced as well. Flea markets are my bread and butter, competition is stiff (though friendly).
 
I live in Northeast GA and have noticed that Lodge and BSR are by far the most common quality brands I run into. Unmarked Wagners are also fairly common. Everybody that sells iron seems to think the Griswold name is gold and priced accordingly, older Wagners are the same way. I have found some good deals on those, but they are few and far between. I seem to have my best luck in fleamarket type stores. CI is usually the first thing to go at yard sales and I'm usually to lazy to get up early enough for those deals.
 
Christian, If you were referencing my statement about Griswold being equaled to gold by store owners, I would say yes. So far, of the owners I've met down here, IMO, most wouldn't know the difference between the early Griswold's Erie and the last double-marked Gris/Wagner-as long as they see "Griswold" it's going to be priced through the roof. IMO the best chances of getting one is finding one covered in gunk and clean it up yourself-or get very lucky.
 
West Central Indiana here, There are lots of overpriced of mostly wagner, and Griswold in our antique stores. I have had the best success at Estate auctions. This is not a high income area that I live in, so most of the iron in the estate sales are store brands or un marked. I bought a Griswold made puritan #8, Favorite #3, 3 notch lodge #6, and a Griswold corn stick pan at the last auction I went to for $20. For the most part there isnt alot of interest in cast iron at the local auctions unless it is a chicken fryer or "name brand"
 
I live in central/western NJ and started looking for vintage CI to use for cooking back in June. I tend to go to one of the 3 or 4 flea markets within an hour of home.

Like others who responded I most frequently see Wagner, Lodge, and Griswold. Only a handful of BSRs. I bought the only CHF and National seen so far. Also recall seeing a couple of Martins, Vollraths, Victors and Favorites.

Most of the sellers are "clueless", especially if it is a noname item like BSR, CHF and even Wagner or Lodge. Had one seller ask me if I knew anything about the company "sk" that made the 2 skillets he had. He was referring to the sk on a Lodge skillet.

My experience also agrees with others, most sellers think Griswold commands a premium. The only Griswold I have purchased so far is the #9 "ERIE" I got for $35 (pictured in a separate post), which is worth it to me.
 
Desert southwest... lots of quantity, slim pickings on quality. During the snow
bird season the pickings appear to drop off ("bargain" competition) significantly.
Still, I have to admit, it would be very easy to fill an entire kitchen with "users"
if one was so inclined. To my hunting experience... an abundance of Lodge, Wagner Ware,
BSR...then drops way off to Griswold, ...with Vollrath and WAPAK being almost non-existent.

But, the hunt continues .

Charles
 
I'm about 40mins outside of Los Angeles, and pickings are slim at the antique stores; most are unmarked, with Wagner and Lodge being the prominent marked 'unmarked' ones. A little while back, I picked up a No.9 Smiley with a lid for $35 at an antique store. I attended the most recent antique fair held at Veterans Stadium in Long Beach. There. for the first time, I found a dealer who'd set up a table selling nothing but CI. He had lots of Wagner, a fair amount of Griswolds with lots of SBL's, and he even had one Wapak - $45 for a No. 7. $85 for an SBL N0.4. He said he's "cornered the market". There were also a handful of other dealers who had small to negligent inventory. My best bets have been placed and won on Craigslist (patience!), and my worst were on eBay. I'm headed to an army base in AZ in a couple of months for a visit, and I'll be scoping out the markets near the base. For me, estate sales have been like throwing darts - toss enough of them and one day, someday, you'll hit a bullseye. L.A. is spread out, and the millennials are fueling new dealers, so it's only going to get harder.
 
Here in North Florida Wagner is most common. A not too close second would be BSR, then Griswold and Favorite, Lodge and Vollrath are rare but appear occasionally. Never seen a Wapak or Chicago around here though.
 
Here in Michigan I have pretty much found a horse of every color, except Vollrath, havnt seen one of those yet. BSR, Wagner, and Griswold are most popular finds. Vintage Lodge, Favorite and CHF harder to find, and only ever found one Wapak.
 
New member here!! I live in Alberta, Canada. I live in the country and make a point to go to thrift stores every week. I'm REALLY lucky if I even see a piece of CI. I see some online, but it's really expensive and I like restoring it myself. I just started that and I'm hooked!
 
This is an interesting question. I am in Lubbock Texas and I hit estate sales, garage sales, Goodwill, and flea markets if you want to call them that here.
The secret to finding a good deal is to keep at it and do as much searching as you can, but make it fun and exciting so you will keep doing it and you will score big time. Knowledge is power and I think we all get burned one or twice, but over all I find BSR, Lodge, and unmarked Wagner's. Most estate sales the cast iron is a little under retail and most of the time I will walk away unless I know it is something special or I don't have it for my collection. I am seeing a lot of Asian cast iron now and I even walked away from a cast iron kettle that had "Made in China" on the bottom yesterday. I can spend that 10 dollars on something better. I go to Antique stores and WOW some of the prices are outrageous. But I get a feel on what the market is doing. Yes with the younger generation desiring cast iron it is only going to drive the prices up even higher. Another problem is people use Ebay to check prices before them mark an item and that is a very expensive place to buy cast iron. It becomes a compound problem driving prices up. But good deals are out there and we all have success stores of a great find.
I love the search and I love taking something old and bringing it back to life and using it. It is the nostalgia of cooking in a skillet that is over a 100 years old has an appeal for me. It is the love of cast iron and using it that keeps me going and forever searching.
That is my two cents worth, two copper cents that is.
Kevin from TX.
 
I go to Antique stores and WOW some of the prices are outrageous.

I wonder. I hear this sentiment a lot. I understand a piece costing more than a person is willing to pay, especially for the folks around here who all have plenty of the black stuff, but at what point does an item stop being overpriced? Maybe that's just what prices are now.
 
Exactly Christian,when I first started I was willing to pay $75 for a Martin spider skillet with out lid and rusted bad,and drive 50 miles one way,now I found one with lid and looks new,for $20 and I was thinking,why that much?of course I bought it,when you have more pieces than you need,every thing is expensive, here the the people thinks if it is full of carbon it is old and ask a lot of money and when the good stuff comes up on line only last 30 min when I call is sold,only flea markets are low on prices they think all is same brand until they see me a couple time they realize some are good or better than others and next time I swing by they have signs grisgold,Wagner those made on 80s for $45 becouse it has its original lid(Made in Taiwan)or those with spikes(lodge)they says pre 1900s is funny,here only find lodge a lot,Wagner,and some griswold,I have 1 of each brand,Bsr a lot and lodge
 
I live in Central PA. It is fairly hard to find good CI for any kind of a "deal". I have a few spots that I hit up once in awhile, and I find Wagner the most, Griswold, Wapak. I found a Wapak #8 long griddle for cheap that needed work, but is real nice now. All in all PA in medium for CI where I am from.
 
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