"Douglas J. Renze" > wrote:
> I agree...it will last a lifetime. Mine is more than 65 years old. Out
> of curiosity, though -- I know mine isn't Lodge, but I can't see ANY
> manufacturing stamps on it. How can I tell who DID make it? You've got
> me curious now...

I've also got a really old "no name" skillet that I got from my father, who
may have gotten it from his mother. All it says on the bottom is "11-3/4
inch skillet". On the top, where the handle meets the pan, there is a number
10. My guess is that any skillet with those size numbers on it would be at
least 40-50 years old, but I'm not certain.

Most of the more well know names (Griswold, Wagner, Vollrath, Martin, etc.)
had very distinctive logos cast into the bottom of the pan. Griswold's have
a "cross" logo, and there were many variations of it over the years. I know
there are books dedicated to identifying the manufacturer and period that a
piece were made, and there are several resources on the web (which escape me
right now). If you do an eBay search for "cast iron" skillet, you get a ton
of listings, many will have pictures of the bottoms with logos. A decent
source of cast iron cookware, too.

Here's an example of a Griswold logo:
http://www.griswoldcastiron.com/imag...nt_logo_sm.gif

In addition to the above skillet, I've got a Martin, a Vollrath, and two
WIRCO.

And I have one skillet that is "display only" that I believe was made by
Griswold, but it has no name on it. It's an "odorless skillet" and it has
that term, along with a patent date of October 17, 1893, and the pattern
number 869 on it. I've been told that pattern number is an indication it was
made by Griswold. I say it's "display only", because it's made to be used on
a wood stove over one of those removable burner plates. I looked up the
original patent on the Patent Office web site, and it's pretty interesting.
I don't think the "odorless" concept really worked, but in any case wood
stoves disappeared.