11" Skillet with Rainbow & Co. Pitts on the bottom

[Doug_Horner]

Hello all

This is my first post and my wife and I are avid Griswold hunters. We have found that the bug will lead us on road trips from town to town for a weekend at a clip looking for those coveted pieces to complete our sets.

My wife has several skillets she uses for cooking. One of these skillets was given to me by my parents who got it from there parents (my grandparents).  In our travels we never saw another one like this one until we were at an antique mall close to Cashtown, Pa. This skillet was exactly the same as the one we have.  The bottom as 11 IN. With Rainbow & Co. Pitts on the bottom. The quality of the skillet is poor, or at least I believe so.  The casting was not finished well and the bottom has flaws in it where it appears that impurities were in the iron.  I am curious to find out where and when this skillet was made. It seems logical that the "Pitts" means Pittsburgh but that is about all I can "assume", and we all know what assume means.

Anyway, if anyone can find or knows anything about this skillet I would appreciate some info!

Thanks and happy hunting  ::)

Doug

[Steve_Stephens]

Welcome Doug,
There have been several Rainbow skillets on ebay in the past several years but they are quite scarce, at least in most parts of the country.  I don't think I have had one since another collector wanted some on ebay more than I did.  I do remember the castings as being fairly good.  There is always a possibility that the poor one you saw was a copy by another foundry using an orignal to mold from.  As to the history of the company or any other information, I can't help you there.  The old and obscure companies are hard to get info on.  Pitts is Pittsburg, PA and there were a number of iron cookware producing foundries located there.  I think your pan is from the c.1880 era.

Steve

[Doug_Horner]

Steve

First off, thank-you for the welcome and secondly for the information.  The information you provided was somewhat what I was thinking.  Circa 1880 would place the skillet in the right era based on it's history. My grandparents were born in the very early 1900's and most likely recieved the skillet early on in marriage.  As far a quality, my comparison is based on our Griswold collection.  The inside of the skillet is of the same quality as Griswold but the bottom has a raised line and not finished nearly as wonderful as a Griswold piece.  Well, I guess I will watch and wait to see if anyone else comes up with some new information and my wife will continue to use it for cooking!

Doug & Dawn

[Harry Riva]

Doug, There are pictures of a couple of RAINBOW skillets and one of their oval roasters in the foundry list on the members only side of the forum. There is a warehouse full of information  over on what is referred to as the "dark" (WAGS members) side. The info over there is a great value for the veteran collector but IMO is an even better value for the beginner.  There are a number of catalogs avaialable for free on Sidney, Wagner, Griswold, and other foundries that are worth many times over what the dues will run you. And there is the foundries list, the club newsletter, and on and on.  You can get info on joining WAGS elsewhere on this forum.
Harry

[Sandy Glenn]

Amen to what Harry said.  I've spent hours and hours looking at information on the dark side and haven't even scratched the surface.