Mystery oldie

[John Stendahl]

My sister-in-law has this one, and is about to hand it off to her 21 yo daughter. Daughter is not yet a cook, and can tend to be easily distracted. (Her dad tends to put things on the stove and then walk away and forget to come back until he smells burning food.) It's nearly perfectly flat and I shudder to think about this fine old skillet being sent off to get warped. It's lightweight and has a full heat ring. I thought maybe Lodge, but the "8" is stamped inward, and there's a dot below it. The handle is flat, not rounded, and it's pointy at the end. I can't find anything quite like it in the red or blue books.

Any ideas? Should it stay here until she gets some life experience?

[John Stendahl]

The other side:

[Stuart Lowery]

The older #8 Wagner skillets are fairly common (great quality, fairly light compared to newer stuff, and a fraction of the $ of one with a "G" on it), I'd suggest picking one up for her to "practice" on for a few years ;)

[Mark Zizzi]

That's a pretty unique handle, don't think I've seen that one before, but probably someone here has. Nice skillet (but needs a bath). ;) Hard to say where it should go without knowing what it is, but I kinda doubt your sister-in-law will care what others think she should do with her pan, lol

[Russell Ware]

Judging from the handle, it might be an unmarked Martin. Maybe Jonathon Davis will see this post and add his comments.

[John Stendahl]

Looking closely, it seems to have a slight scar from a gate mark on the bottom.

[John Stendahl]

I ended up gifting my niece a brand new Lodge #8 and a Lodge 10" griddle for her to learn on. I'll send her a sheet of "how-to's" to help her learn to take care of cast iron.

I'm still curious as to what this old skillet might be, hoping someone has an idea.

[Roger Barfield]

It's not a Martin.  I've seen that handle before but can't remember who made it. 

[Rick Gilley]

I think I have one or had one with that handle...don't think we ever got it identified. I will check some pictures to see.

[C. Perry Rapier]

I'm not a 'handle man'. But now Steve Stephens, he is theee best, bar none, 'handle man' in the cast iron Kingdom. You can blindfold him and let him feel the handle and more times than not he'll be able to tell you what brand it is.

I can't add anything to the identity either. But it looks like a nice piece and it has served up plenty of good meals in its life. When I look at the bottom though I'm thinkin Volrath. They seem to have a very pronounced heat ring like this one, or to me they do.