Griswold is to cast iron cookware what Steinway is to pianos. The Erie, Pennsylvania foundry made some of the finest American cast iron from the late 1800s through 1957, and a complete, well-cared-for Griswold piece today commands prices that startle people who think a skillet is a skillet. We sold an antique Griswold Easter Bunny cake mold for $139 last winter and that wasn’t a fluke — that was the market. Knowing what you’re looking at is worth real money in this category.

A quick history

The Griswold Manufacturing Company started in Erie, PA, in 1865 and produced cookware until 1957, when it was sold and eventually shut down. During those nine decades, Griswold made skillets, Dutch ovens, waffle irons, gem pans, cake molds, and a long list of specialty pieces — including animal-shaped cake molds (rabbit, lamb, fish, Santa) that are now among the most collectible items in the catalog. The post-1957 “Griswold” pieces made by Wagner under the Griswold name are not the same animal and don’t carry the same value.

The logo evolution — your most reliable identifier

Griswold marked their pieces clearly, and the logo evolved across distinct eras that collectors use to date pieces:

Slant logo with cross (1909-1939): a stylized “GRISWOLD” written diagonally inside a cross-and-circle design. Most collectible era. Pieces with this mark, in good condition, command top prices.
Block logo with cross (1939-1957): straight “GRISWOLD” lettering inside the cross-and-circle. Still genuine Griswold, generally a tier below slant-logo prices but still strong.
Small block logo (late period, 1957+): simpler block lettering without the elaborate cross design. These are typically transitional or post-Griswold pieces.
No logo, just “ERIE” text: very early Griswold pieces, pre-1909. Rare, often very valuable to dedicated collectors.

The pattern numbers

Every Griswold piece carries a pattern number, usually on the bottom or back. The number identifies the specific mold used to cast that piece. For collectors, a known pattern number is gospel — there are dedicated Griswold reference books that catalog every pattern Griswold ever produced. Reproductions and counterfeits often get the pattern numbers wrong, missing, or using numbers that don’t correspond to the piece’s actual shape. If you have a Griswold-marked skillet with no pattern number visible, that’s a yellow flag.

Surface, weight, and feel

Real vintage Griswold cooking surfaces are smooth — almost machined-feeling — because they were polished after casting. Modern cast iron from Lodge or other manufacturers is intentionally textured to help seasoning adhere. If you handle a vintage Griswold and it feels glassy and smooth on the cooking surface, that’s right. If it feels pebbly and rough, it’s either a modern repro or a different brand.

Weight is a tell too. Vintage Griswold is generally lighter than modern cast iron of the same dimensions because the casting walls were thinner — the foundry had the skill to pour thin and have the piece hold up. A heavy, thick-walled “Griswold” pan should be examined skeptically.

The animal cake molds

Special note on the figural cake molds — bunny, lamb, Santa, fish. These come up often at estate sales and are heavily counterfeited. A genuine Griswold Easter Bunny cake mold has a specific pattern number, the slant or block Griswold logo, and casting quality that’s clearly superior to the modern reproductions sold at Hobby Lobby and similar stores. The reproductions exist; the originals are scarce; the price gap between them is large.

If you have a piece of cast iron in your kitchen that you suspect might be Griswold, the first move is photographing the bottom — both the logo and the pattern number. Both together tell a clear story. We rotate vintage cast iron through the shop and Griswold pieces in particular don’t tend to last on the shelf. If you’re trying to identify what you’ve got, send a photo of the bottom and we’ll tell you what era and what pattern.