"Tabs" on Griswold DO lids

[Wally Farley]

Does anyone know the purpose of the "tabs" found on Griswold DO lids and Oval Roaster lids?

Thanks

[Sandy Glenn]

If memory serves (and it doesn't always), the tabs on the lid keep the inverted lid from sitting flat on the rim of the oven so that air can circulate inside the oven during storage.

[Neal Birkett]

As I recall, upside-down Griswold Dutch oven and oval roaster covers fit all the way down on the pot.  As such, the tabs may inhibit movement / rattling to some degree, but I am not sure that would be the intended purpose. 

Note that if the tabs did hold the lid up off the lip, pressure or impact on the upside-down lid could cause splitting of the pot (think stacking and storage).

Stay healthy.

[Neal Birkett]

There is considerable variance in the use of the tabs.  Most Griswold "economy" lines, Iron Mountain, Merit, etc, do not have the tabs.  Early (Erie, Slant Erie) covers do not have tabs.  Later Griswold-marked covers (typically unmarked) do not have tabs.  Even some lettered covers don't have tabs.  Other brands do not have them.

Seems like whatever the rationale was, their presence was not that significant.

[Wally Farley]

Thank you Sandy and Neil.

My curiosity is peaked because Griswold went to the time and expense to add these "tabs" to the lids during the period when competition was probably intensifying.  At a time before Business Schools and Marketing, these businessmen were trying to differentiate what was essentially a commodity, cast iron cookware.  Hence, Tite-Top, Drip Drop, etc. Therefore, I think there was a purpose for them.

[Russell Ware]

Could the tabs have been used to make sure the handle was lined up properly when the two halves of the mold were put back together after removing the pattern?

[Neal Birkett]

I am certainly not sure, and I agree there must have been a reason.

It is true that the inside lettering and the outside handle are aligned, but I don't see how the tabs would indicate this better than the handle itself.

Perhaps I am not correctly visualizing the process of the mold halves coming together. 

[Neal Birkett]

Since differentiation from the competition was important, it is possible that they were added just to be distinctive.  They do add a "look."  There is value in that, and those tabs would not have been hard.

As I said, I don't know, and don't have much faith in this idea either.