Thread: Is anybody else a cast iron nut/collector?

WOW!!!! How did I miss this thread?
Yep, I've got some cast iron. Seen some good looking stuff in this thread so far.
I have skillets from a couple inches up to 14". I have Dutch Ovens from 1 quart to 14 quart. 99% sure our Christmas Ham will be baked in my Dutch Oven this year, since I'll be the one doing the cooking. hahhaha.

Let's see if I can find some camping meals I have prepared over the years using cast iron. I did make a Dutch Oven cobbler for the Illinois Fall Crappie.com gathering.

Wagner Manufacturing Company
This is the start of the Wagner cast iron dynasty as we are familiar with it. Two other brothers, William and Louis, were added to the mix in 1891 which triggered the beginning of WagnerWare cast iron cookware. With the momentum of population growth and expansion, the Wagner brothers had a market ripe for growth and built the most modern and technologically advanced manufacturing facility for casting iron at the time. Wagner Manufacturing was able to produce world class cookware, rivaling and later surpassing the other powerhouse in the cast iron cookware arena, Griswold. WagnerWare Cookware was awarded in several nationwide as well as some international expositions, including but not limited to expositions in Chicago, Nashville, Paris, Buffalo, and St. Louis.

Uniting Wagner and Griswold
In some circles, this is stated as “Wagner acquiring Griswold” but it is not that simple. The real story is slightly more complicated and is quite common when small family operated business grow into large corporations. Companies are bought and sold, consolidated and dismantled, and the cast iron cookware business is no different. The Randall Corporation purchased Wagner Manufacturing in 1952. McGraw Edison Inc. bought Griswold on March 29, 1957 and then sold it in December 1957 to Randall who already owned Wagner.

Beginning of the End
Effectively, the Griswold manufacturing plant in Erie, Pennsylvania was shut down in 1957 and any Griswold cookware made after this period was out of the Wagner Manufacturing Sidney, Ohio plant. This was the beginning of the end of the high quality cookware that both, Griswold and Wagner, were known for. Well, that might be a little bit harsh but most experts do agree that the quality started to decline in quality at this point. In 1959, the final nail in the coffin came when Randall sold off Griswold and Wagner to Textron. It is widely accepted that post 1960 Griswold and Wagner cookware is not in the same collectable class as the pre 1960 cookware. General Housewares Corp. bought Textron Inc. in 1969 and that included the Griswold and Wagner cast iron cookware lines. One could argue that those cast iron skillets, dutch ovens, and griddles that were made after the merger and acquisitions are better than the ones made after 1990 or so, and that probably not far from the truth. However, if you compare a modern day, Made in China, cast iron skillet to a 1970, Made in the USA WagnerWare cast iron skillet, to a 1920 Griswold or Wagner cast iron skillet, the difference will be clear. An interesting note is that cookware that declares it was Made in the USA are typically not considered collectable pieces.

Modern Era
In 1996, a group of investors, which included a former employee of Wagner, purchased the Wagner and Griswold cookware lines. This was known as the WagnerWare Corporation. They continued manufacturing for another 3 years before closing their doors in Sidney in 1999. In 2000, the American Culinary Corporation purchased the rights, legacy, and remaining facilities of the Wagner and Griswold lines. The former employee noted above is Peter Pike and is the President/CEO of the American Culinary Corporation. It is clear that Mr. Pike is dedicated to the legacy and quality of the Wagner and Griswold name

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE GRISWOLD MANUFACTURING COMPANY OF ERIE, PA, AS IT PERTAINS TO COLLECTORS OF CAST IRON COOKWARE

In 1865, two Erie families associated by marriage, joined in a modest venture to manufacture door hinges. The Selden and Griswold union paved the way for The Griswold Manufacturing Company of Erie, Pennsylvania, recognized world wide as producers of fine cast iron products, especially cookware.
Between 1865 and 1957 when they closed production of the plant at the corner of 12th and Raspberry Street, their line of cookware had been sold and used around the world. Their designers and engineers produced many patents spanning almost 100 years of manufacture. Before the turn of the 20th century, they added cast aluminum products to their line. In the 1920's they enameled some cookware and by the 1930's they offered electric items to their product list. They produced commercial pieces for use in restaurants.
The company was in trouble by the 1940's for a variety of reasons. Many products were being introduced by other cookware companies that seemed more attractive to modern cooks. Problems within the company between management and employees widened, the quality of the products seemed to decline, and in 1957 the doors of GMC closed leaving 60+ employees without jobs.
While most of the GMC cookware is a desired collectible, almost all collectors avoid the small Griswold logo era. The former quality and casting isn't there, for the most part. The small emblem items are good for users of cast iron because they don't have the price tag of the collectibles and are great for function. There seems to be a much larger demand for cast iron, compared to those seeking cast aluminum, enameled, electric, or plated pieces. Eventually, Griswold's strongest competitor, The Wagner Manufacturing Company of Sydney, Ohio, ended up with ownership of their molds. The "double stamped" Wagner/Griswold emblems are not considered important collector's items, nor are the items that say Griswold but were really manufactured in Sydney, Ohio by Wagner.

Some of the overlapping logos produced at the foundry included these:

1865-1883 Selden & Griswold
1865-1909 ERIE or "ERIE"
1874-1905 Spider and Web
1884-1912 GRISWOLD'S ERIE
1884-1909 Diamond (with ERIE inside the diamond)
1897-1920 Griswold Manufacturing Company (italic lettering, large cross logo)
1919-1940 Griswold Manufacturing Company (block lettering, large cross logo)
1937-1957 Griswold (block lettering, small cross logo

Just some I kept around

Got some CI goodies for Christmas

Nice!!!
I got a CI 2 sided griddle.

We keep 2 of the grandkids while mom and dad are at work. Her 8" skillet was sitting on the stove and I had to look. I flipped it over to find Wagner 1891 on the back. I think it's one of the styles and was produced later in years. The handle has a hump and is more round than all of mine.

Look at the other pictures on this link.
Wagner's 1891 Original Cast Iron Skillets 6 1 2" 8" | eBay

Never seen the seasoning instructions cast into the skillet. Not sure the cast technology back then was capable of it. But it must have been, its in the skillet.