These manufacturers are like the Ford, Chevy, and Dodge of vintage cast iron skillets. Each one offers a storied past that seasoned collectors celebrate. Griswold Cast Iron Skillets were once ...

Smithey’s genesis is in Morton’s affinity for vintage cast-iron cookware ... “The lady sent me, I think it was an old Griswold. She had gotten it from her mom, and her mother had passed ...

Photo: Sarah Kobos Since the popularity of cast iron has spiked in recent years, the demand for antique skillets made ... defunct companies like Wagner and Griswold has skyrocketed.

Now a regular at the monthly Antiques Faire, Affoumado has become a go-to Bay Area specialist in cookware restoration.

But those bygone brands (Wagner shuttered in 1952 and Griswold closed up shop in 1957, right around the time Teflon was popularized), along with most antique cast-iron cookware, have grown ...