One of my other favorites to collect. The pizzelle (pronounced pitt sell) is the italian version of scandinavian krumkake. (The french/belgian version is a gaufrette) A thin wafer/cookie. The Pizzelle has a little more flour in it and is thicker. It traditionally has an anise flavor. I would guess this dates from the 1930's, maybe a little later. They switched to wooden handles later. They tend to be cast iron if much earlier. A lot of manufacturers were in the Philadelphia area. My favorite irons are made by Vitantonio from Ohio.
I don't think I would spend much time cleaning this up. It's pretty decent. The cream of tatar won't touch carbon, it handles stains and discoloration and is the last step I use. If I really want to clean this I would see if it would fit in my self cleaning oven. If not, I would heat the piece with a blowtorch and see if I could easily remove the handles, then run it through the self claning oven. Then finish with cream of tatar with a steel wool polish.
Or you could use walnut shells and a sandblaster. But I'd really not bother.
Carol, the SOS works great, but it is real coarse and will scratch aluminum leaving marks. If I want to scrub I use a clear nylon scrubbing pad. Then polish with 0000 steel wool - this won't leave noticeable scratches. You onlly see the scratches with SOS if it is polished.
tom
