Cast Iron Cookware

Also called skillets, griddles.

Typical period: 1890–1945

A large and active collecting field where the useful dating evidence is on the base — the gate mark, the heat ring, and the maker's lettering.

What you are looking at

Heavy black cast iron pans and pots, with a handle, sometimes a heat ring on the base, and often lettering or numbers cast into the underside.

How to date it

A gate mark — a raised line or scar across the base where molten iron entered the mould — indicates roughly pre-1890.
A full heat ring around the base is generally pre-1940s.
Smooth, polished cooking surfaces indicate pre-1950s manufacture; later pans are noticeably pebbled.
Maker's lettering: Griswold, Wagner, Favorite, Birmingham Stove. Logo styles are documented and date closely.
Unmarked pans are common and were made by many foundries for hardware chains.

Spotting a reproduction

Reproduction Griswold and Wagner pieces exist, particularly in the more valuable sizes and forms.
A modern reproduction has a rougher surface and less crisp lettering.
Fake gate marks are ground on rather than cast in, and the texture differs.

What it is worth

Ordinary Wagner and Griswold skillets in common sizes are cheap and abundant. Value is in rare sizes, unusual forms, and condition — a cracked or warped pan is worth nothing, and pitting from rust is not fully reversible.

Confused with

Modern cast iron

Pebbled cooking surface, no gate mark, and usually a country of origin cast into the base.

Questions about this

How do you date cast iron cookware?

A gate mark — a raised line or scar across the base where molten iron entered the mould — indicates roughly pre-1890. A full heat ring around the base is generally pre-1940s.

How do you spot a reproduction?

Reproduction Griswold and Wagner pieces exist, particularly in the more valuable sizes and forms.