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I had a brief fascination last year with coffee lids. It stemmed from my hatred of the McDonald's lid, which is the worst example of engineering in modern history. My wife got me this book as a gift, which opened up a whole world for me. Now the book resides upon our coffee table.
The red book is all over the place from the 1920s through the 1960s with Vollrath skillet age ranges. This doesn't really make sense to me, but I'm sure the author has his reasons. Maybe Vollrath just stuck with their patterns?
My guess, based on widely known date ranges from other manufacturers, would be 1920s or earlier for skillets with the outside heat ring. Lodge, BSR, and Martin were doing inset heat rings by the 1930s, and Griswold and Wagner were smooth bottom (no heat ring) by then too. Vollrath also made smooth bottom skillets with no heat rings, later then the 20s I assume.
Griswold's Erie was the series between the older ERIE and newer cross in the double circle logo skillets. The blue book says the Griswold's Erie skillets were made in 1905 and 1906. You did quite well paying $9 for a skillet that averages $200 including shipping at online auctions.
Love a nice chef skillet! Wagner made these in 4 different sizes and two different handle styles. The ones with the squared off handles with the thumb rests were made in the 1940s and 1950s according to the red book.
Actually, Tyler’s handle typology would put this a couple decades earlier, but I’m not sure if other gatemarked collectors have a better date range for ‘initial skillets’
I'm seeing 1906-1912 as the date range for slant Erie logo skillets in the blue book as well as CastIronCollector.com.
The yellow book shows two variations of the Alfred Andresen monk pan made by Griswold, including he one I have, but not the one you have. Does the underside of your handle have a "2992" pattern number on it? The shape is pretty much the same, but maybe there are variations not made by Griswold?
I like my Griswold chef skillet more than my Wagner ones. You might want to hang onto it.
Blue book and red book are two that folks commonly recommend to get started in the cast iron identification and dating world!!
This pan was made in the 1940s according to the blue book. Here's a cool little video showing the pan in action too.
$160 is very steep for a small logo #8 pan. That's a $15-$20 pan per the blue book; you have a dutch oven lid, which probably adds about $20 max.
The large logo #8 deep chicken fryer is $100 - $150; $160 refinished would have been a fair price.
Be careful, people ask the moon for cast iron; I've seen new lodge pans at antique stores/flea markets asking more than retail. Best advice I have for you is to enjoy the pan, then pick up the blue book it will pay for itself in short order and steer you in the right direction.
Ah! I missed the tiny round handle holes. Pattern number 1295 is right. I'm not positive if either a 1278 or 2551 lid would fit, but I'm pretty sure they would, and the 1278 lid would have been made around the same time as your pot. The blue book shows two examples of your Dutch oven and both photos show a glass lid like this.
The red and blue books have some great ads like what you're looking for. Here are prices for Wagner chef skillets from the 1930s (the ones with the rounded handle ends):
| Catalog # | Top Diameter | Price |
|---|---|---|
| 1384 | 7 1/2" | 60¢ |
| 1386 | 9 1/2" | 75¢ |
| 1389 | 11 1/4" | 95¢ |
...and here are 1931 prices for Griswold Iron Mountain skillets:
| Size | Price |
|---|---|
| 3 | 20¢ |
| 5 | 33¢ |
| 6 | 37¢ |
| 7 | 40¢ |
| 8 | 45¢ |
| 9 | 50¢ |
| 10 | 55¢ |
| 12 | 75¢ |
| 14 | $1 |
There is such a thing as light weight cast iron, it’s cast with metal rather than sand and typically has bolted on handles because the cast is too thin for sturdy handle otherwise. Source: modern cast iron by Ashley Jones
The blue book only has the flat tops and then the domed cast iron versions with normal handles. The red book (The Book of Wagner & Griswold, Martin, Lodge, Vollrath, Excelsior) has the aluminum version with a fancy handle. Hopefully Marg or Larry will get back to you. If anyone might know it is probably them! Maybe one of the Griswold collecting societies might also know?
It’s the book of Griswold/Wagner, literally the color of the book is blue so that’s what it’s called lol. There’s also a red book.
The "blue book" titled "The Book of Griswold and Wagner: Favorite, Wapak, Sidney Hollow Ware" lists that date range, because that is when Favorite was known to be in business. I would guess your pan might be from the later part of that range, as there are two other markings that are said to have been earlier Favorite trademarks.
Get this cookbook and try one of the dough recipes with honey in it. A cookie rolling pan is essentially a cookie mold in rolling pin form.
https://www.amazon.com/Baking-Cookie-Molds-Handcrafted-Christmas/dp/1620355078
I got mine for Christmas so I'm not sure exactly but there seems to be a load on amazon. I found this one wonderfully titled Recipes n Shit - https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08RR7G95R/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_QWXQ6R6J1MN0EZWKXXDQ
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0764337297/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_1M7WFbNSDYFJZ?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 here's the blue book .
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0764311913/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_KN7WFbDHENBMZ?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1 and here is the red book.
Those should cover alot of what you find in antique stores and eBay etc. There are some more specific books for gem pans and such if you decide to go all in.
The blue book has an interesting answer. The #3 was produced from 1920-1957, #5 and #7 from 1920-1940s, #9 from 1934-1940s, and then a deeper #9 from 1923-1930. The book does not really talk about the logo/marking style to date the oval roasters like the skillets.
https://www.amazon.com/Book-Wagner-Griswold-Excelsior-Collectors/dp/0764311913
the blue book and red book both are primarily wagner and griswold.. .but there are a lot of different pictures of each in each of the books.. and then each book has other makers and they aren't the same between the two books... lodge, martin, favorite... etc.. I think most people that are really into collecting get both... there are older versions of each book not sure if they would be found in a normal library or not.
the 'blue book' of griswold and wagner has about a two page write up on the origins and some major points in griswold's timeline as a company... but I'm not sure that's what you're looking for...
Those are awesome pans. Hard to find intact too.
Double Skillet, bottom of page 237 in the Book of Griswold and Wagner (blue book) with a book price of $125.00. Completed Ebay listing show it going for $50-$80 dollar range.
Great skillets, looking for a set myself.