Chrome 262 Pan

[chrysolite]

Just a quick question.  Could someone who has a chromed Griswold 262 corn stick pan let me know how much of the bottom side (opposite the Griswold markings) is chromed?  I recently bought one on Ebay and only the tabs have the bright, shiny chrome; the areas between the molds (basically everywhere but the tabs) are dull and not the buffed chrome.  The seller said there was no damage and I just want to figure out if I have been ripped off.

Thanks,
Mike

[Clark Rader]

Mike, Griswold had 3 kinds of crome. Silverlike: an unpolished, flat chromium finish. Chrome: a highly polished finish. Than there is Du Chro: a flat finish with polished high lights on edges and or nandles, that sounds like the one you got. I have a few pieces like that.
clark

[Steve_Stephens]

Clark,
I know that several sources say "Silverlike" is a chrome finish but that's not what Griswold says.  From Bulletin E-11 (c.1932) "Silverlike Cast Iron-These utensils are nickeled over inside and out making a clean, attractive 'Silverlike' finish.  They are not polished".

The 1940 Griswold catalog shows three chrome finishes:  Full Chrome; Satin Finish; and Full Polish Finish.  All of these pieces are fully chromed but, on some, some of the surfaces are not polished.  At other times Griswold had different, or a different number, of chrome finishes available.  The Du-Chro chrome finish was offered also around 1940 and it may be just one of the previous three listed finishes with a different name.  Griswold was always changing things.

Mike, I think the cornstick pans were only highly polished on the top surface including the tops of the handles but satin finished elsewhere.  I think you got the real thing the way Griswold made it.

Steve

[woodpile]

Re:  Silverlike;  I agree with Steve S as it being a nickle finish.  I have a beautiful Griswold skillet with a silverlike finish and it tarnishes similar to some of the old nickled stove finished parts I have seen.  I collect Wagner pieces and the only nickled pieces I have of Wagner do not tarnish exactly like the Griswold silverlike does so  I am assuming Griswold may have alloyed the nickle with some other metal perhaps?  I do not know for sure but both the Wagner nickle and the Griswold silverlike do not look like any chrome I have ever seen when they tarnish from use.  Also there is no peeling on any of it as I have seen with chrome in various instances.  Cheerio George V

[Steve_Stephens]

Speaking of Wagner, George, did they ever chrome any pieces?   I think I had asked this before but don't remember the answer and can never think of any chromed Wagner.  It's all nickel if plated.  And why would Griswold get so heavily into chrome but not Wagner?

Steve

[chrysolite]

Thanks for the info everyone.  Nice to know that I didn't get taken.  I will post a picture of the pan when I get it cleaned to confirm that it is Du-Chro.

Mike

[Clark Rader]

 Do you know the difference between 6% & 3.2% beer? Well the difference between chrome and nickel plated is 1 or 2% of this and or that. Yes there is a differance. "Griswold was always changing things" And changing the wording in the sales department. Chrome by any outher name is still chrome. And Wagner used more nickel in there cast iron.
clark

[Steve_Stephens]

Chrome and nickel are no closer than gold and silver.  All are elements and a single, different substance.  Chrome and nickel are quite different in appearance and durability.  Nickel tarnishes and chrome doesn't (at least noticeably).  I'm no chemist and it's been years since I sat in a Chem class so there might be some flaws in my statement.  It is meant only to say that the differences between chrome and nickel are not of a minor nature although both are a bright, silvery metal.  The first commercial use of chrome plating was on the 1926 Oldsmobile.  Prior to that, all autos and appliances, etc. used nickel plating.  Chrome gradually took over from nickel due to its much better resistance to tarnishing.  But nickel is, to me, a much prettier metal.

Steve

[Clark Rader]

Yes,
clark

[Greg Stahl]

Chromium \Chro"mi*um\, n. [NL., fr. Gr. ? color.] (Chem.)
  A comparatively rare element occurring most abundantly in the mineral chromite. Atomic weight 52.5. Symbol Cr. When
isolated it is a hard, brittle, grayish white metal, fusible with difficulty. Its chief commercial importance is for its compounds, as potassium chromate, lead chromate, etc., which are brilliantly colored and are used dyeing and calico printing. Called also chrome.


Nickel \Nick"el\, n. [G., fr. Sw. nickel, abbrev. from Sw.   kopparnickel copper-nickel, a name given in derision, as it was thought to be a base ore of copper. The origin of the second part of the word is uncertain. Cf. Kupfer-nickel, Copper-nickel.]

1. (Chem.) A bright silver-white metallic element. It is of the iron group, and is hard, malleable, and ductile. It occurs combined with sulphur in millerite, with arsenic in the mineral niccolite, and with arsenic and sulphur in nickel glance. Symbol Ni. Atomic weight 58.6.

Note: On account of its permanence in air and inertness to oxidation, it is used in the smaller coins, for plating iron, brass, etc., for chemical apparatus, and in certain alloys, as german silver. It is magnetic, and is very frequently accompanied by cobalt, both being found in meteoric iron.

[woodpile]

Greetings:  Re: Silverlike, I wonder if Griswold used an alloy such as German Silver?  It is supposed to be an alloy of Nickle, Copper, and Zinc in various portions depending on the intended use.  I believe that Tin may have been used in the mixture also @ some time.  Re: Wagner Nickle, I have a couple of smalls which I beleive to be Nickle and also an oval roaster, which I had thought to be Chrome plate?  Perhaps I am incorrect on the roaster?  It appears to be a flat ( non- polished ) finish and not particularily handsome to look at, however it is in almost unused condition and very nice in that regard.  At any rate, the finish does not appear to be the same as the smalls, so is why I think it may be chrome plate.  Re: 6% vs 3% beer, I have brewed up my share and more of a very fine and highly desireable product much enjoyed by myself and others and I daresay if one were to listen to the discussions emanating after quaffing a few of my product an outsider happening in would have no problem  determining if the brew was 6 or 3 % ( whether it be by volume or weight ) by counting the bottles and the volume and intensity of lies and other fabrications.  I realize this has nothing to do with the gentlemans small pan, however is one more thought and hopefully one might find a kernel of knowledge hidden in my verbiage.  Cheerio George V