Please help me ID this pancake griddle

A

Ash Nelson

Member
Hi all!

This is my favorite and probably most used piece of cast iron, I believe it is called a pancake griddle. It measures just shy of 9" diameter, 13" long including the handle. It has an inset heat ring that is complete all the way around (no gaps in it), and a gate mark that barely shows through on the cooking side. The underside holds very few clues as to it's origin, there are no makers marks or logos. There is what looks like a "filled zero", (for lack of a better description) that is opposite the handle side. I am not sure if you would call this the 12 o'clock position or the 6 o'clock position, but it is away from the handle. The handle is flat on the underside, with no grooves or finger indents, and no reinforcement where it meets the body of the pan. There are no dots or any other marks on the underside that I can find. There is a distinct lip around the outside edge of the pan.

On the top side, there is only a 7, which is on the handle. The 7 measures about 5/8" tall.

I am thinking that this is an economy/store brand piece that was produced around 1905 - 1920, but I am basing that on the gate mark and the inset heat ring only. I really don't have a clue! :lol:
Anyway, here's pix:
Image Image Image
Image Image Image

I would love to know a little more about the history/age of this pan, just to satisfy my own curiosity. Any input is appreciated! Thank you in advance!
~ Ash
 
Gatemarked pieces pre-date the era of unmarked/store brand items. Most pieces that are of the time period it appears this piece was produced would more often than not have been minimally marked, with as little as the molder's initials. A raised size number on the top of the handle is a characteristic of older Lodge skillets and griddles, but I don't think I've seen a Lodge with a gate mark, no matter how old, the exception being some open frame turk's head muffin pans I have no reason to believe are recasts.
 
Thanks Doug!

When I first started reading up on cast iron, I thought I had narrowed this piece down to the 1860 - 1900 time frame, but the inset heat ring made me doubt that it was that early a piece. Any ideas as to the production era?
 
I think relative dating via the inset heat ring applies more to regular skillets. If you think about this type of piece, a handled griddle, there's basically the design of yours (a shallow skillet, essentially) and the other type which is like this:
Image

So I would say the pre-1890 assumption applies.
 
Sweet!
So, now I am wondering... do you think this griddle was made by a "brand-name" manufacturer, or was it possibly produced by a smaller regional foundry/blacksmith?

Thank you for your insight, this is awesome!
 
Pre-1890, there really weren't any "brand name" manufacturers, at least not in the sense of a Wagner or a Griswold. Yes, there was Waterman and Filley putting their names on things, but it was more like an artist signing their work.
 
Hmmm, OK. I was thinking Griswold was founded around the time of the Civil War, and Wagner in the 1880s. I don't believe this piece was produced by either of those manufacturers, but I thought there might have been other manufacutrers that I am not aware of.
;) Thanks again, I'm learning lots!
 
Although its roots were from around 1868, Griswold didn't start making hollowware until the early 1880s. Wagner started up in 1891.
 
Most of the small griddles that I can find pictures of seem to be the other style, what I call a "platfrom griddle", vs. the skillet style like mine. Is this skillet style unusual?
 
Griswold made what they called a skillet griddle, which is essentially the same thing you have there, up through the 1940s at least. But yes, most seem to be the flat round style.
 
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