Author Topic: "MAID OF HONOR" ? ? ? ? ? ? ? (Read 18889 times)

MD · « **on:** June 17, 2006, 05:48:58 PM »

I saw a #5 or #6 skillet today. I had a ring and in the center of the bottom it said "MAID OF HONOR". No other markings could be found. It appeared to be a very nice skillet, light, well made, ect. Would someone tell me if it is worth buying? And the manufacture. Thanks

Steve_Stephens · « **Reply #1 on:** June 17, 2006, 06:09:03 PM »

If the price was right and you like it it is worth buying. I've seen #5 and 8's only I think and have no idea of who made them but supposedly they were made for Sears. 1940's-50's?? These pans don't bring a lot of money. I guess if we knew who made them they might bring more.

Steve

ysageev · « **Reply #2 on:** June 17, 2006, 07:31:56 PM »

I have a "maid of honor" spatula.

Dwayne Henson · « **Reply #3 on:** June 21, 2006, 11:11:35 PM »

Here is photo of the bottom of a aluminum pan that shows the Maid of Honor was Sears' line. I'm going to be writing BS&R's Sales Manager to see if he knows what foundry, or foundries made them for Sears, as Mr. Jones is not sure. I did reconfirm with Mr. Jones that BS&R did provide the skillets for the Sears store in Birmingham, AL, they were just the regular BS&R skillets with a Maid of Honor paper label on them. This was only for the Birmingham, Sears store however, and they never cast Maid of Honor on them. Does anyone have a BS&R, Maid of Honor Skillet?

Roger Barfield · « **Reply #4 on:** June 21, 2006, 11:31:04 PM »

Dwayne, I looked up the patent for your aluminum pan and it says Westbend Aluminum Company.

Roger Barfield · « **Reply #5 on:** June 21, 2006, 11:31:31 PM »

page 2 of the patent

Dwayne Henson · « **Reply #6 on:** June 21, 2006, 11:35:38 PM »

I wish they had put patent numbers on the Cast Iron, Maid of Honor items. It would have made the search easier.

Steve_Stephens · « **Reply #7 on:** June 21, 2006, 11:41:58 PM »

Dwayne, I also just looked up the patent number which was issued Aug. 21, 1945 and assigned to the West Bend Aluminum Co. or West Bend, Wis. The patent is a design patent for a decorative handle for a cooking vessel.

Dwayne, there also seems to be another patent number right above the clearly readable number on the bottom of the pan. Can you make out what the number is? The patent date should give a close approximation as to when the Maid of Honor iron skillets were made.

Dwayne, one more thing; can you post a photo of the top of the handle on that aluminum pan so we can see if it matches the patent drawings?

Thanks,
Steve

Dwayne Henson · « **Reply #8 on:** June 21, 2006, 11:47:09 PM »

Steve;
I don't own this pan. You all got me wondering about Maid of Honor, and I've been searching the net for info and came acrost this pan.

Dwayne Henson · « **Reply #9 on:** June 21, 2006, 11:53:50 PM »

I emailed the owner about the numbers, hopefully they'll respond, and I'll post them.

Steve_Stephens · « **Reply #10 on:** June 22, 2006, 12:28:59 AM »

Quote

...can you post a photo of the top of the handle on that aluminum pan so we can see if it matches the patent drawings?

Patent drawings and handle do match. That's not always true of drawings and actuall production items.

Steve

Dwayne Henson · « **Reply #11 on:** June 29, 2006, 09:26:00 PM »

Here's her reply Steve.

Hi--thanks for looking at my items. I'm sorry but I don't see Patent Design anywhere on this pot. I did find the Model 620.41 on the handle, and on the base it is marked MH620 4 51 14. Thanks

Frank Dimos · « **Reply #12 on:** April 10, 2016, 01:46:12 PM »

For what it's worth, the 2nd patent number is 143164 (preface with a "D" if you want to look it up--it's a design patent), issued December 11, 1945 to West Bend Aluminum. I just acquired one of these skillets and lids and was doing some research.

Bret Terry · « **Reply #13 on:** April 10, 2016, 06:55:55 PM »

The "Red" book, (copyright 2001, page 225) shows a Maid of Honor cast iron skillet in the Lodge section of the book. It's interesting because it's a 4-notch skillet. It also shows a skillet sticker label that reads, "SOLD BY SEARS ROEBUCK & CO."

Dwayne Henson · « **Reply #14 on:** April 10, 2016, 08:34:11 PM »

That's cool, and ya gotta like it when a almost 10 year old thread resurfaces.

Frank Dimos · « **Reply #15 on:** April 11, 2016, 01:14:59 PM »

Just goes to show the quality of information available from this group. Glad I'm a member now.

Matt Morris · « **Reply #16 on:** May 03, 2016, 10:52:54 PM »

It may show Maid of Honor logo skillets in the Lodge section of the red book, but there is zero evidence they were made by Lodge. Lodge put MOH labels in their own skillets for Sears, but the skillets with the cast logo look like nothing Lodge has ever produced.

Roger Barfield · « **Reply #17 on:** May 04, 2016, 03:10:32 PM »

Matt , the reference books are not without flaws. Consider they were made long before there were facebook pages and there was not much interest at all in foundries other than Griswold and Wagner. The authors put together what they could find or were told and did a great job given the magnitude of the task. As new info comes available we try and update what we know and keep things as accurate as possible. It is a never ending task. Unfortunately there will be no more updates to the Red or Blue books as one of the authors passed away and the other is having health issues. If you have proof who made the pieces you mention then let us know.

Jim Fuchs · « **Reply #18 on:** May 04, 2016, 03:41:52 PM »

Well said Roger. :)

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Author Topic: "MAID OF HONOR" ? ? ? ? ? ? ? (Read 18889 times)

MD

Steve_Stephens

ysageev

Steve_Stephens

Steve_Stephens