can somebody identify this one?

[Gary Smith]

Hi all
this is my first post to the forums. I am a bit of a newbie, but had alot of fun cleaning my first pieces. Even made my first southern pan fried chicken in my "new skillet".
I was given another one and I have cleaned it, attached are the pics. Can somebody identify it? There are no marks or engravings of any kind. As you can see there are 3 little feet on the bottom, and a design on the handle. I have looked all around the net and haven't found anything similar. I think its pretty old, but not sure. Any help would be appreciated!

[C. Perry Rapier]

Hello Gary. Welcome to WAGS. WOW, that is an old skillet and I don't know if you knew this or not but its a right hand skillet. They used to make right and left hand skillets and then they started putting two spouts on them so it works for both right and left hand folks. We have seen skillets like yours, but as for the name of the Company that made them, thus far we just don't know. There were a lot of cast iron foundries back in the day before our transportation system developed. My belief is that the railroads put a lot of local foundries out of business.

[Gary Smith]

Hi Perry
Thanks for the info. I didn't know about left hand / right hand. Good thing I'm right handed! So i can assume its worth cleaning up and keeping, its not a Chinese boat anchor!
I will keep looking, if I find anything I will pass it along.
Thanks to all on the forums for tips and info.
Cheers!

[Frank Burkhead]

Gary, that is a quite beautiful skillet!! I've only seen one or two similar, in pictures here on the WAGS forum. VERY nice!!

Perry, as I understand it, many of the early foundries went under after they had depleted the local fuel, limestone or iron sources. Many of the east coast iron deposits were small and of poor quality ore, and the early furnaces were fueled by wood charcoal. I've read reports of Pennsylvania foundries that failed after they had cut down and burned all the trees for miles. After the canals were completed in the early 1800's, coal became available as a cheaper and more reliable fuel source, so foundries along waterways that could handle the coal barges were the ones that stuck around longest.

[Tom Neitzel]

Frank, there are a couple pdfs in the pdf section that you might enjoy reading.  I scanned them from my copy of Pennsylvania Iron Manufacture in the Eighteenth Century.  One talks about the process they used and the other about the workers themselves.

The US was about 80 years behind Europe in using coal (actually coke) to make iron.  It happened by about 1840.  The smelting process is a bit different.  I suspect that was because of the huge hardwood forests we had.  Transportation systems would have played a part as would have demand different cookeare as the era of hearth cooking gave way to the stovetop.

By the way, the book was published in 1938, 227 pages with lots of illustrations.  A wonderful reference.  If I get ambitious I will scan more.  But you can buy reprints for less than $15.

Tom 

[Frank Burkhead]

Tom, thanks! I'll check that out. It may be one of the references I was referencing. ;)

Of course, there were many other reasons foundries came and went - fires, deaths, financial panics, partnerships collapsing, ironmasters and/or workers leaving their jobs, etc. But before the advent of the canals in the 1820's-30's, even the most successful foundries were limited to the materials at reasonably close hand. Or at least that's my understanding of the situation!  ;)

[Jim Glatthaar]

Very nice skillet, Gary.  If you think it may need a new home ... just feel free to let us all know. ;)