Larry and Marg O’Neil have what some believe to be the largest collection of vintage and antique cast iron cookware in the United States.
Griswold Cookware
Collectors and Collections,
History and Stories
Griswold, Lodge, Wagner, Favorite, Wapak, and More!
The “Griswold” Silver Pup Scandal
How a small silver pup caused an uproar in the Griswold cast iron collecting community.
The Griswold Bolo Oven
The Griswold BOLO oven was made by the Griswold Manufacturing Company in Erie, PA in the early 1900s. Griswold held at least 3 different patents related to the BOLO oven – granted in 1915, 1916, and 1920. In the grand scheme of antique cast iron cookware collecting the ovens are not particularly uncommon, though I…
Unusual 7-Way “Universal Tool”
The 7-way Universal Tool was patented in 1881 by W.H. Thayer.
Two Quirky Filley Stories
I couldn’t figure out where to put these two odd stories that both involve antique G.F. Filley cast iron pieces, so…here they are! THE SUNKEN STEAMBOAT BERTRAND AND ITS TREASURES The steamboat Bertrand sank in the Missouri River on April 1, 1865 after hitting a submerged log about 25 miles north of Omaha, Nebraska. Bound…
Griswold Cast Iron Quaker Ware Dealer Ads
One handy way to learn about the pieces in a particular line of vintage or antique cast iron cookware is to get your hands on an old catalog or old advertisements for the product. Larry and Marg O’Neil have a tremendous amount of cast iron and aluminum ephemera, which I have had the opportunity to…
Three Versions of Vintage All-In-One Cast Iron Dinner Skillets
I recently had the pleasure of seeing three different vintage All-In-One cast iron skillets/separators within a time span of about 2 weeks. (Note: this writing was originally made and posted in 2018). Purpose of All-In-One Cast Iron Dinner Skillet My understanding of the all-in-one cast iron dinner skillet is that the division in the pan…
How To: Identify a Cast Iron or Aluminum Pan Using Google Images Search
A Google images search can be a great resource when trying to identify unmarked vintage and antique cast iron cookware. Often, old cast iron pieces that you find do not carry the manufacturer’s name. Or if they do, you might need help figuring out what the piece is, when it was manufactured, or how it…