Yard Sale, Thrift Store, Junk Heap Shopping (Part 2)

[Martin Fisher]

Can't tell much from the pics but Griswold made plated cast-iron and aluminum skillets in addition to standard cast-iron.

[Lisa Shock]

It was also VERY common for kids in HS shop class in the first half of the 20th century to cast aluminum copies of old cast iron pans. You can find almost every Wagner and Griswold pan out there re-cast in aluminum.

[Anna N]

1 hour ago, DiggingDogFarm said:

Can't tell much from the pics but Griswold made plated cast-iron and aluminum skillets in addition to standard cast-iron.

 The thing is it seemed to have the weight of cast iron. Nothing about it led me to think that it was aluminum.  

[Anna N]

1 hour ago, Lisa Shock said:

It was also VERY common for kids in HS shop class in the first half of the 20th century to cast aluminum copies of old cast iron pans. You can find almost every Wagner and Griswold pan out there re-cast in aluminum.

 It is possible of course. I'm not a metallurgist but it didn't speak to me of aluminum.   

[Kerry Beal]

Weighed too much for cast aluminum.

[rotuts]

curious about the inner finish.

[Kerry Beal]

Mostly just like oxidation 

[Porthos]

Just a guess but I would say cast iron with a tin alloy coating on the outside.

[Anna N]

I already confirmed that I not a metallurgist but somehow I can't get nickel out of my mind. 

Edited May 17, 2016 by Anna N (log)

[Deryn]

page showing Griswold logos etc.

 

1897-     1957  GRISWOLD within a cross. The logo most often associated with the antique collectible world is this logo, the cross with the word Griswold inside it.  But it changed over the years, and the medium and small sized emblems of this type are the least favored among collectors.  After 1940, much of the “good metal” was gone and the production of diminished quality cast iron was underway.  

         The oldest of the “good metal” was the slant ERIE logo.  The word GRISWOLD slanted slightly to the right.  It is also known as the italic ERIE logo.  The word ERIE underneath the double circle and cross is Block style, meaning the letters are straight up and down, rather than Slanted to the right like the word GRISWOLD.  

 

[Tennessee Cowboy]

If a bring anything more home, my wife says I have to get rid of something of equal size.  Puts a crimp in my tag sale shopping!

[Thanks for the Crepes]

9 hours ago, Anna N said:

 

 Kerry Beal and I were doing a little thrift store shopping this morning and ran across this.  We are very curious about it as it does not appear to be cast iron.  Anyone? Please do not tell us it is worth a fortune because we left it there in the thrift store 

 

Griswold made cast iron, nickel-plated pans, and here is a YouTube video of one. I'm sorry that it has nausea inducing photography, and demonstrated one of the worst egg cooking techniques I have ever witnessed, but it looks a whole lot like what you saw and photographed. I also hated the video's music, but that is a personal opinion. 

 

Apparently, they also made chrome plated products. I owned a solid nickel pelham bit for my horse that was made in England. Your photo looks much more like nickel than chrome to me.

[Martin Fisher]

Yeah, as I mentioned above, Griswold made more than just plain cast iron.

 

"Nickel plated “ERIEs” can be found in all Series
except for the First Series. Commercial nickel-plating, which used electricity, was relatively new
when first used by Griswold. It seems there was a demand for cooking utensils that looked
“better” than regular cast iron by their wealthier customers. The plated utensils were shiny and
were advertised to have a superior cooking surface. They would generally command a price that
was double that for the identical regular cast iron utensil."

"All plated “ERIEs” were nickel-plated; Griswold did not start plating with chromium until c. 1929."

 

Source: http://www.wag-society.org/guest/ERIESkilletArticle.pdf

 

[andiesenji]

19 hours ago, Anna N said:

 

 Kerry Beal and I were doing a little thrift store shopping this morning and ran across this.  We are very curious about it as it does not appear to be cast iron.  Anyone? Please do not tell us it is worth a fortune because we left it there in the thrift store 

It is cast iron, one of the nickel-plated ones.  This one with a "slant" logo, earlier than the "large block" logo.  Introduced 1905 and used until 1920.  The heat ring shows it is an earlier one, the smooth bottom introduced in 1914. 

They are not as desirable to collectors as the plain cast iron and sell for much less. 

The one you found is worth about $10.00

 

 

 

 

Edited May 18, 2016 by andiesenji (log)

[AlaMoi]

curiousity question:  what is "plain cast iron" in this regard?

I have a #8 - 704 E vs H - but alot of the chrome has worn off - or perhaps it previously belonged to a clean freak who scrubbed it off.

I don't collect cast iron, paid $12 for it in a junk shop - but I will state without reservation - I would not sell that pan for ten bucks to anybody! 

[Anna N]

59 minutes ago, andiesenji said:

It is cast iron, one of the nickel-plated ones.  This one with a "slant" logo, earlier than the "large block" logo.  Introduced 1905 and used until 1920.  The heat ring shows it is an earlier one, the smooth bottom introduced in 1914. 

They are not as desirable to collectors as the plain cast iron and sell for much less. 

The one you found is worth about $10.00

 

 

 

 

 

That's terrific!   I was hoping you would soon chime in!   Don't mind a bit leaving $10 in the thrift store since I have a fine cast-iron pan of similar dimensions.  

[rotuts]

was the price  9.90 CAD ?

 

[ Ed.:  CAD = Canadian Dollars ?  Loonies ?  ]

 

quite the find.  figure out the Black Surface, get rid of it, EBay the item

 

Or , More Better, go to lunch more, i.e. LunchLadiesLunch

 

fantastic  Fried Calamari would be nice, tentacles included  

 

Ice Cold Beer nice too.

[Anna N]

1 minute ago, rotuts said:

was the price  9.90 CAD ?

 

[ Ed.:  CAD = Canadian Dollars ?  Loonies ?  ]

 

quite the find.  figure out the Black Surface, get rid of it, EBay the item

 

Or , More Better, go to lunch more, i.e. LunchLadiesLunch

 

fantastic  Fried Calamari would be nice, tentacles included  

 

Ice Cold Beer nice too.

$19.99!  And in a thrift store at that.  However we have lost much faith in the prices in this particular thrift store chain as one can often find things cheaper in a regular store.  This one is much more of a business then the ones we prefer which are truly charity stores.  Not to say you can't occasionally find something you can't find elsewhere but you need to know if you are prepared to pay the price for it.

[rotuts]

WoW

 

I have no thrift stores near me

 

its not the price, its the adventure Im missing.

 

there was one near me, Salvation Army.  Politics aside

 

it tuned into a Very High End appliance sttore

 

I looked, as its on the way to TJ's

 

and they had a 5 K Bosch  induction flat top  and several  Steam Ovens.  

 

good for me  the Steams Ovens were < 1.5 C.Foot(s)

 

take a little peaky Peaky here :

 

http://blog.yaleappliance.com/bid/90543/The-Four-Best-Steam-Ovens-Reviews-Ratings-Prices

 

Yikes.

 

[andiesenji]

25 minutes ago, AlaMoi said:

curiousity question:  what is "plain cast iron" in this regard?

I have a #8 - 704 E vs H - but alot of the chrome has worn off - or perhaps it previously belonged to a clean freak who scrubbed it off.

I don't collect cast iron, paid $12 for it in a junk shop - but I will state without reservation - I would not sell that pan for ten bucks to anybody! 

Bare cast iron. Griswold made them from the 1890s to the '50s and then was bought out by Wagner, did some odd "double" logos, the later ones are not considered collectible.

This is one of the very early "slant" with the "ERIE" -  I sold this one for $125.00

[AlaMoi]

ah!  it is curious as to how the nickel plate evaporated from mine - I've "heard" the initial attempts were just nickel plated handles - but the hand is the blended rib design which puts it closer to the 1920 series 'end'

[andiesenji]

3 hours ago, AlaMoi said:

ah!  it is curious as to how the nickel plate evaporated from mine - I've "heard" the initial attempts were just nickel plated handles - but the hand is the blended rib design which puts it closer to the 1920 series 'end'

There are various stories about the advent of the "shiny" finishes on skillets, griddles, etc.,  Some people think it was a gimmick to sell "more attractive" cookware to the "sophisticated" city dwellers.

There were instructions that no metal scrubbers, no abrasives should be used, only brushes or coarse salt.  

Back then people used sand to scrub pots and the abrasive actions ruined a lot of cookware.

This one is from the early 1920s.  It was one of my grandmother's and I have owned it and used it since 1960.  

I tried to take care of the finish but there is only so much one can do when the kids have the chore of washing dishes.  

 

It has the smooth bottom, no heat ring, the "large block" logo and the Erie, PA  U.S.A which dates it.

It's a good size for cornbread and I use it a lot for that when I want a thicker result.  I usually use a #9 - regular cast iron.

[Tere]

I love it when pieces have history like that. The everyday cast iron frying pan was my husband's well before we met, and is circa 1968 because it was the spare one from his Mum and Dad's wedding list. Still going strong, and I'm tough on pans

[Shel_B]

This past weekend I was at a garage sale where I picked up this nice-looking cleaver.  It's quite comfortable in my hand, and has what seems to be a good weight.  I'm looking forward to trying it. $2.00! 

 

ETA:  I just checked prices for this cleaver and found it to be a pretty spendy item.  It's a better find than I guessed ...

 

Edited May 23, 2016 by Shel_B (log)

[rotuts]

I do not have that cleaver, but I have 5 globals, in the knife category.   the steel is difficult to sharpen properly

 

depending on what you plan to use that cleaver for, consider getting it professionally sharpened by someone who knows what they are doing and Global steel, if you want to do more delicate work with it.

 

congratulations.  fantastic find.

Edited May 23, 2016 by rotuts (log)