Griswold's VICTOR series

[Ray Emerson]

In what time frame were these skillets produced.  

Are they a lesser priced line; why are the named VICTOR?  I have seen a few of these but haven't been able to find any history concerning them.  And, the same goes for "unmarked" Griswolds.  Why exactly were they made, and if they are unmarked Griswolds, how do you actually know they are Griswolds?

Thanks again!!

Ray

[Roy G. Meadows]

Harold,
The following shows the approximate dates Griswold made the VICTOR's:

VICTOR- with outside HR (w/o P/N)      c1886-c1892          #7,#8,#9
VICTOR- with outside HR (with P/N)      c1892-c1905          #7,#8,#9
VICTOR- with inset HR (no additional markings)      c1905-c1909     #7,#8,#9
VICTOR- with inset HR- marked CAST IRON SKILLET      c1910's-c1920's  #7,#8,#9
VICTOR- with inset HR- Fully Marked (3 lines)      c1920's-c1930's   #5,#6,#7,#8,#9

The VICTOR's were a lower priced line of skillets. Some of the sizes had slightly smaller dimensions than the ERIE and Griswold lines. I believe it is generally accepted that the quality was the same for the VICTOR's as for the other Griswold lines.
                                                                    Roy Meadows

[Ray Emerson]

Roy,

What is a P/N?

What did they do to make the VICTOR line a lesser quality product?  The ones I've seen look pretty good for 80 to 90 year-old, used frying pans!

Ray

[Jeff Seago]

Roy,

A P/N is the abbreviation for pattern number.  In the case of the Victor skillets it would be the three digit number that is unique to each skillet size, such as the #5 skillet having a P/N of 695.  Other pieces made by Griswold had various P/N numbers.  Hope this helps you.

Sincerely,

Jeff Seago

[maloney108]

I'll add a comment about the "unmarked" Griswold.  They are what Griswold called the "Iron Mountain" series.  The story is that some places (like Mom'n'Pop shops wanted to sell no-name cast iron at a cheaper price than the Griswold marked prices, so this series was made.  In my mind (and I'm probably stirring up a pot here) these pieces should be called Iron Mountain by Griswold, not unmarked Griswold.  You can tell that they are Iron Mountian by the four digit pattern number beginning with "10.."

The Victor skillets are shallower than their Griswold counterparts (and as a result, are also slightly smaller in diameter.

[Roy G. Meadows]

Ray,

As stated above most collectors don't view Griswold's VICTOR line as having lower quality. It just had a lower price. I think this is probably Marketing 101!!!

There are many factors that determine the quality of a cast iron piece- composition of metal (virgin ore vs. scrape), coarseness of the sand used in mold, mold quality (i.e., mold packing), surface finish of piece (i.e., polishing), etc.

                                                                           Roy Meadows

[Mark Ritter]

Roy, you seem to be our Victor expert here. Could you help me understand the differences in the fully marked Victors? I have a No#7 skillet, just like is shown by Harold at the start of this post. Mine has the scooped out handle instead of the soild handle on his. I also have 2 No#8's that are quite different. The one is the more common spike or tang handle but the other handle looks like Harolds one on the #7. Do you know why there seems to be so much variation in these handles? If I am not making much sense trying to explain this I could send the pictures of them. This is something I have often wondered about and was curious if anyone out there knew?

[Mark Ritter]

Victor #7

[Mark Ritter]

Victors #8

[Roy G. Meadows]

Mark,
I can't add much to a discussion as to why the handle variations on the "Fully Marked" VICTOR's except that they were made over a very long time period. They were made for about 20 years according to my best info. I really don't understand the scooped handle on your "Fully Marked" #7. They stopped making scooped handles on the ERIE's in about c1886 and didn't start making the "Fully Marked" Victor's until in the 1920's. Figure this!! However,the area where the scooped handle on this #7 joins the skillet is different from how it was done on the early ERIE's. This #7 has the characteristic triangular flat used on later skillets.
                                                                             Roy Meadows

[Mark Ritter]

Thanks for getting back to me on this. I was just wondering if anyone out there had this information and I knew you had quite a list on the Victors skillets. This all started out when I started and was trying to put together a set of the Victor fully marked skillets that matched. I thought that the spike handle #8 was the only one out there. This is a hard one, even with only five skillets to make a matching set of.