[size=12]Last question for the evening, I promise...
Even though I know that they don't generate very much excitement, I go for Griswold and Griswold-made choppers and grinders. I know that they made Puritan grinders and Kwikut grinders, and I'd bet green money that the Best Made grinders out there that have all the features of Griswold marked grinders are also Griswold-cast. But I've also found two choppers that are marked "Wizard," and both of them have Griswold features and/or Griswold p/ns on their components.
Here are pictures of both. The first is a Wizard No. 40, and it has an unmarked 2470 handle, and all of the features of later-style Griswold-marked spout-under grinders. (I say "later-style" because the earlier ones had an elephant-ear shaped table clamp instead of a small disc.) The second is a Wizard No. 11, and it has the same body/scroll/crank p/ns as a Griswold's ERIE No. 11 or a Griswold-made Puritan No. 11 chopper (2468/2469/2470, although none of those are visible in the picture. Take my word for it.)
The red book shows a Griswold-made hot plate with a plate marked "Wizard" (although for some reason the authors insist on misspelling it with two "z"s even though in the picture it's spelled the usual way.) My question is, was there a company called Wizard at one time, and if so did Griswold just make a few pieces for them or did they buy out the name the way they bought out the Classic name? Or was "Wizard" just a name that got used for some retailer's product line, the way that "Puritan," "Merit," and "Best Made" got used by Sears, independently of which foundry was doing the casting?
Thank you.[/size]
