Southerner Grady Britt is a long-time vintage Lodge cast iron collector. While he also has pieces by many other manufacturers – notably Griswold – the focus of his study and collection is vintage and antique Lodge cast iron. Grady and Jean Britt Linda and I had a lovely visit with Grady and Jean Britt, to…

I made twelve videos of the O’Neil collection. The first three showcased the O’Neil home’s kitchen and dining room. Now, we’re moving on to the basement, which is jam-packed with treasures! The O’Neil Basement Collection Coming up next: the Museum! You can also see all of the videos (12!) on my youtube channel.

Cast iron collectors Eric McAllister and Clayton Mitchell provided the iron for a two-day vintage cast iron cookware auction at Dinky’s Auction House in Montgomery Indiana. I’ve been to a cast iron auction at Dinky’s before and had the chance to write about it for Antique Trader and the blog. The auction was held on…

I usually love thinking about the history of the old pieces of iron that I run across – where they have been, how they have been used, and who used them. The history of this particular piece, however, was not quite as charming for me to ponder. I ran across a pretty little cast iron…

How can you tell whether a pup marked “Griswold” is authentic or a reproduction? Griswold pups have been widely reproduced. With just a little knowledge and education, you can quickly determine whether a pup marked “Griswold” is authentic or a reproduction. I spent time with Joe and Nancy Zawadowski of Durham, North Carolina, in September…

I had the chance to visit with my cast iron collecting friend, Harold R. Henry of Hamilton Missouri, in late December 2023. When digging through some of his massive collection, I ran across an auction catalog from 2002. Harold had written the selling price for the various pieces next to the auction listing. It was…

Update: Facebook reader Michael Cumminskey identified your pan, Steve. It is a “Takoyaki” pan. Do a little google search and you’ll learn all about it. **** Steve Z. of Newell New Jersey wrote to me via the contact form and said: I picked up a large round Gem pan with 28 spots for muffins. The…

Griswold made much more than just a line of cookware. Did you know that Griswold also made, and held the patent for, a burglar alarm? I didn’t think so. Inventors John Harvey and David Shields obtained a patent in 1894 for the gadget, and the patent was assigned to Matthew Griswold, founder of the Griswold…