The Griswold Bolo Oven

ByMary
Griswold BOLO oven surrounded by vintage and antique Griswold cast iron cookware lids square skillet pan Dutch oven kettle and trivets, ashtrays, and red enameled pieces.
Griswold Bolo oven, surrounded by a smattering of Griswold pieces from the collection of Doug and Kathy Wenz. Photo courtesy Doug and Kathy Wenz.

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 have never seen one actually in use – at least as it was intended to be used.

Antique Griswold BOLO oven with two sad irons on top.
Bolo oven of Denise Rogers. Photo by Denise Rogers, used with permission.

What is a BOLO Oven?

“BOLO” is an acronym for “Big Oven, Little Oven.” The BOLO oven was made by Griswold in two different sizes/versions – pattern numbers 125 and 140. It was made to allow for cooking two different dishes at the same time at different temperatures. The advertising hook was, “Bakes in Half the Time with Half the Fuel.”

According to the patents, the oven was designed to sit on top of a gas stove.1 The lower section of the BOLO oven, being closer to the heat source, was hotter than the upper section of the oven. The heat flow was controlled by a flue plate. When the flue plate was removed, the oven could also be converted into one big section, for cooking larger items at one temperature.

Side panel from a Griswold BOLO Two in One Big Oven Little Oven no, 180 to cook food in gas oil or coal stoves.
From a BOLO oven in the collection of Doug and Kathy Wenz. Photo courtesy Doug and Kathy Wenz.
Design drawing for the patent application for the Griswold bolo oven, patented june 8 1920.
1920 Patent application document for the Griswold Bolo oven.
1920 Patent application document for the Griswold Bolo oven.
One of the patents for the BOLO oven. See also US Patent 1,126,753 (Feb. 2, 1915) and US Patent 1,187,727 (June 20, 1916).
1920 Ladies Home Journal advertisement for the Griswold Bolo oven.
1920 Ladies Home Journal. Original ad offered on eBay by seller advertisingshop.

The BOLO oven was made in two different sizes. The pattern numbers were 160-B and 180-B.

Antique story advertisement from 1919 Good Housekeeping Griswold bolo oven big little cook multiple foods at once gas oil coal stoves
July 1919 Good Housekeeping story advertisement for the Griswold Bolo oven.
Advertisement showing how the Griswold Bolo oven was designed to be used; here, Bolo oven on top of a Griswold gas plate
Vintage Griswold Bolo oven from the collection of Doug and Kathy Wenz.
Griswold Bolo oven. Photo and oven from the collection of Doug and Kathy Wenz.

I wasn’t able to find a good photo of a BOLO oven in use; if you have one and are willing to share, I’d love to see it! 2

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Update March 16, 2023: Well, after reading this post Doug Wenz told me that he had a photo of their BOLO oven in use. Here it is.

Griswold Bolo oven serving as a printer stand and cabinet st the home of Doug and Ksthy Wenz.
The Wenz BOLO oven, serving as a printer stand and cabinet.

Now, how about seeing one cooking a meal? 🙂

  1. While the patents refer to a “gas” stove, the advertisements say that the BOLO oven worked on gas, coal, or oil stoves. See advertisements within.
  2. I did find one photo on the web of a BOLO oven cooking a turkey.