“Initials Skillet” Question

[Doris Mertz]

Can anyone tell me more about this skillet, which I’ve been told is referred to as an “Initials Skillet” — maker unknown. Do we know what decades they were produced?

[Russell Ware]

I would refer to your skillet as a turn of the century skillet. A rough estimate of the date of manufacture could be 1890-1910. If you look on ebay, many sellers call skillets with these markings Blacklock skillets. But no one in the collecting world has definitive proof of what a Blacklock (a.k.a. early Lodge) skillet looked like. It is only postulated at this point. But don’t let that distract from the fact that it is a nice skillet, and an old one at that. There are many old pieces of essentially unmarked cast iron cookware that are next to impossible to identify as belonging to a specific foundry. But the molder marks (Initials) on the bottom of your skillet are consistent with early Lodge markings.
Post some more photos once you have this one cleaned up.

[Doris Mertz]

Thank you! I’ll do that. That’s really old. I guessed it was fairly old due to the heat ring and sulphur pitting. I have another unknown skillet that I figure is probably old, but this one is even older. The other one is my lightest skillet. Let me just find a picture of it to post and get your opinion on it’s approximate decade.

[Frank Dimos]

I've got one of those. What's interesting to me on this one is the "gate" mark at the heat ring edge. When I first saw it, I thought "this has to have a bottom gate under all the gunk". But nothing. Then I noticed the heat ring edge. It certainly looks to me like a gate/sand casting.

[Doris Mertz]

I didn’t realize that gate marks could show up along the heat ring. Yours has the SW initials just like mine. Originally, I thought I’d clean it up and give it to my cousin whose initials are SW. But, if it’s turn of the century, that’s the oldest skillet I own, and it will be hard to let it go. 

[Frank Dimos]

I'm not sure they can--just what it looks like to me.

[Roger Barfield]

I don't believe that's a gate mark.  It looks like a casting flaw.  Look around the sides of the handle and see if you see grind marks.  That would be the gate location. 

[Jim Fuchs]

I agree with Roger....that is not a "gate mark"

[Frank Dimos]

That's just it--the standard grinding you would expect near the handle indicating a multi-skillet casting is not there. Instead, the skillet has a slight flair (perhaps 3/8" wide) at the top and is ground around the entire rim AND the handle, indicating to me a single skillet pour and considerable flashing.

[Duke Gilleland]

I'm with Roger on this one. Poor grade casting. I have 2-3 like this in my "jungle". Can remember reading somewhere that it was thought these were pre Lodge Blacklocks  The plot thickens.