Here’s a nice find: a digital reprint of an 1883 fold-out hollow ware product brochure by the Selden & Griswold Manufacturing Company of Erie, Pennsylvania.1
As you can see, the front cover of the Selden & Griswold brochure has some handwritten words. I suspect the handwriting on the cover – “C.A.M. from M.G.Sr.” – refers to Charles A. Massing and Matthew Griswold, Sr. Matthew Griswold, of course, founded Selden & Griswold with the two Selden Brothers. Later, he chartered the Griswold Manufacturing Company. Charles Massing was a long-time employee and key contributor to the Griswold company who served in many different roles.
I should have noted where I originally obtained this old Selden & Griswold brochure, but unfortunately, I did not. It may have been sent to me by George T. Griswold, who was the great-grandson of Matthew Griswold, the founder of the Griswold Manufacturing Company.2 George Griswold was a friend of the cast iron collecting community and my Facebook friend until he passed away in 2023.
1883 Selden & Griswold Hollow Ware Product Line
As you can see, the Selden & Griswold hollow ware department’s product line in 1883 included:
- “T Kettle” (tea kettle)
- Galvanized Tea Kettle (not pictured; different sizes)
- Kettle (different sizes)
- Scotch Bowls (different sizes)
- Kettle (different sizes)
- Pot (not pictured; different sizes)
- Erie Flop Griddle (different sizes)
- Long Pan or Iron Heater (different sizes)
- Griddle (different sizes)
- Bailed Griddle (different sizes)
- Skillet (different sizes)
- Deep Skillet (different sizes)
- Waffle Irons (different sizes)
- French Waffle Irons (different sizes)
- “Cuspador” (cuspidor) (different sizes)
- “The American” Damper (different sizes)
- Enameled Maslin Kettles (different sizes)
- Oval Ham Boilers (different sizes)
The back page of the brochure also has a list of additional “Miscellaneous Goods:”
- Fry Pans
- Erie Oil Stove Broilers
- Gem Pans
- Umbrella Stands
- Mop Sticks, Star
- Erie Fluter
- Fire Shovels
- Pokers
- Coal Tongs
- Kitchen Sets including Stand, Shovel, Poker, and Coal Grapples
- Stove Pipe Thimble
- Stove Lid Lifters,
- Boiler Handles
Hope you find this information helpful!
- On the site you can also find links to download a 1910 Lodge catalog and Griswold catalog number 45 as well as an entire category with manufacturer’s downloads. These old pieces of ephemera are essential to collectors to document and verify products and dates of production. It’s one thing to simply repeat what you have heard; it’s another to see actual documentation.
- A very crisp and clear downloadable copy of this brochure is also online at the Wagner and Griswold Society forum. According to their site, WAGS obtained the brochure from George Griswold. If you plan to download the product list, you may wish to do so from the WAGS site, as it is a much crisper copy than mine.
