I'm trying to learn some about waffle irons now and Ive notices some with coiled steel handles and some with wood handles?.....Did they come both ways in the same number and is this one of the variations spoken of? Which one came first?
Wood handles came first: short, stubby dowles followed by longer dowles followed by turned wood handles.
Then came alaska coil handles: first they were thinner gauge followed by thicker guage followed by a three part wire handle followed by a heavy, clunky one piece wire handle.
It may have been Wagner or Griswold where I thought I had seen a catalog that stated irons were shipped with wire handles unless wood was specified. That would have been after the wire handles because available. I do know that Griswold catalogs state that "both low and high frame waffle irons are shipped with bails unless side handle pattern is ordered."
Earlier catalogs show only wood handles and no mention of coil while later catalogs state "alaska coil handles" and no mention of wood handles.
I have seen several heart star irons with straight wooden dowel handles. These may be replacements (why, as the coil handles do not get out of order?) or, maybe, they could be ordered that way. Or, someone changed them out because they liked the wood handles better.
Steve
