A Field Guide to Marks

Reading the bottom of the pan—every maker’s tells, in one place.

Researched & written by Ethan Trex, a cast-iron cook & collector. · Reviewed August 2026

Turn any old pan over and its story is cast into the bottom: a logo, a name, a number, a raised ring, a faint ghost—or nothing at all. This page gathers the dating cues from all six maker pages into one lookup, plus the physical tells that date a pan even when there’s no logo to read. Keep the reference’s golden rule in mind the whole time: a mark can name the seller, not the maker. “Puritan” is a Sears brand; “Wardway” is Montgomery Ward’s; a faint “ERIE” may be no Griswold at all. Read the iron, not just the name.

On this page Start at the bottom Anatomy of a bottom The physical tells The maker index The confusions A rough chronology

Start at the bottom — what do you see?

A logo you recognize (a cross-in-a-circle, a stylized W, a smiling sun, an Indian head)? → jump to the maker index.
A brand name but no maker (“Puritan,” “Wardway,” “Oneta,” “Miami”)? → that’s a store or budget line; see the confusions.
Just a number, or a name and a number? → read the size-number vs. catalogue-number tell.
A raised ring but no words, or nothing at all? → it’s the “unmarked” problem—date it by the heat ring, gate mark, and casting (this is how you date most Lodge).
A faint, ghostly second word under the mark? → a ghost mark—a pattern cast off another maker’s pan.

Anatomy of a bottom — where to look

A pan seen from below. The maker’s mark sits in the center or the ring; the size number near 12 o’clock or on the handle; the raised heat ring circles the bottom; a gate mark (a sprue scar) marks an early, hand-poured piece. Original schematic, not to scale.

The physical tells — dating a pan with no logo

Gate mark — a raised line or scar where molten iron entered the mold, across the bottom. It means a hand-poured piece, generally the earliest (roughly pre-1900s); automated molding did away with it.
Heat ring — the raised ring on the bottom that let a pan sit on a wood- or coal-stove eye. Present → generally older; a smooth, ringless bottom → later (flat gas/electric ranges, ~1930s on). On the earliest Griswold the ring sits outside, moving inset around 1905.
Size number — the small cast number is the old stove-eye “No.” (about 3–14), shared across makers, so a “No. 8” is a size, not a model. Lodge instead sized by the inch; Wagner added a 4-digit catalogue number (the 1050-series) from 1924, and Griswold used cast pattern numbers.
Molder’s mark — a small raised letter or symbol (often near 6 o’clock) identifying the mold or shift; more common on earlier pieces.
“MADE IN U.S.A.” — country-of-origin wording is later, generally mid-1960s onward; its absence usually means an older pan.
Ghost mark — a faint, lighter second word (usually “ERIE”) showing through, from a pattern cast off another maker’s pan. Common on early Wagner and on Wapak—not proof of Griswold.
Casting quality — smooth, thin, light castings mark the premium makers (Griswold, Wagner, Favorite, Sidney); tell-tale bubbles or sand-shift ripple point to Wapak; a rough, pebbly surface is modern.

The maker index — the signature mark of each

Maker	Signature mark	Instant tell	Marks span
Griswold	A GRISWOLD cross inside a double circle (the “slant” then “block” logo); or block “ERIE” alone.	ERIE → Griswold’s Erie → slant cross → large block → small block. Cross logo = post-~1906.	1880s–1957
Wagner	The name “WAGNER”, later the stylized fancy-W “WAGNER WARE / SIDNEY -O-.”	Block/arc WAGNER → “WARE” inserted (~1914) → stylized W (1922+) → “Pie Logo” (1924–34). 4-digit catalogue no. = 1924+.	1890s–1959
Favorite	The “Smiley” — a smiling sun-face cast in the bottom (nobody else used it).	Smiley or block “FAVORITE PIQUA WARE.” A “Miami” diamond = its budget line; “Puritan” = its Sears line.	c.1916–1935
Lodge	Often no logo at all — count the notches in the heat ring; later, the egg-in-skillet LODGE.	No-notch (~1910–30) · 1-notch (~1930s) · 3-notch (the vintage tell). Egg logo cast in from ~1987 (brand from 1974). No “8-notch” exists.	1896–present
Wapak	A raised Indian Head medallion; also a “Chicken Foot,” a “Wapak Z,” or tapered WAPAK.	Indian Head / Chicken Foot = early & prized (1903–10); tapered WAPAK / “Oneta” = later (1912–26). Often an ERIE ghost + bubbly casting.	1903–1926
Sidney	A “Sidney” + “O” — in cursive script, or in block letters.	Script = Philip Smith’s genuine ware (1886–97); block = Wagner-made in the same foundry (1897–1903).	1886–1903
BSR	No logo at all — read the shape; marked lines RED MOUNTAIN / CENTURY.	The angled handle + an ever-present heat ring + a size in inches and a “No.” “Century” + a no. = 1954+; “Red Mountain” = ~1930s–50s.	1902–1989
Atlanta	Script/block ATLANTA STOVE WORKS, paper labels & named lines (SMALL FRY, LADY BESS).	The name marks the brand, not the foundry — from the 1920s often BSR iron, and after 1957 always Birmingham. A diamond/“A” mark is Chicago Hardware, not Atlanta.	c.1950s–60s
CHF	A size number in a ◇ diamond (± a pattern letter); later the revived FAVORITE / Sani-Ware.	The diamond (at 6 o’clock) is Chicago, not Atlanta. Bought Favorite’s Piqua patterns in 1934 — so a late “Favorite” may be Chicago iron.	c.1910s–38

The confusions — when a mark misleads

The ERIE ghost. A faint ERIE can be a genuine Griswold—or a ghost on an early Wagner or a Wapak cast from a Griswold pattern. Read the maker’s own mark.
The Puritan puzzle. Sears’s “Puritan” was made by both Favorite and Griswold—told apart by the handle and Griswold’s 4-digit pattern number.
The four Sidneys. The town, Sidney Hollow Ware (script), Wagner-made “Sidney” (block), and Wagner’s own “Sidney” kettle & “SIDNEY -O-” logo.
Store & budget brands. “Puritan” = Sears · “Wardway” = Montgomery Ward (made by Wagner) · “Oneta” = Wapak’s budget line · “Miami” = Favorite’s. The word names the counter, not the foundry.

A rough chronology of tells

When there’s no clear logo, the physical cues still bracket a pan. Very roughly:

If you see…	It generally points to…
A gate mark (sprue scar)	the earliest era — hand-poured, roughly pre-1900s
An outside heat ring	early (e.g. the first Griswold “ERIE” series)
An inset heat ring + a cast size/pattern number	~1900s–1930s
A 4-digit catalogue number (Wagner)	1924 or later
A smooth, ringless bottom	later — flat gas/electric ranges, ~1930s onward
“MADE IN U.S.A.”	later still — generally mid-1960s+

These are cross-maker rules of thumb, not precise dates—each maker page carries the exact, sourced chronology for its own marks, and flags where the collector date-ranges disagree (Lodge’s three-notch window especially).

Sources

This guide’s nine maker pages. Every mark and date here is drawn from—and sourced on—the individual pages: Griswold, Wagner, Favorite, Lodge, Wapak, Sidney, BSR, Atlanta, CHF. Confidence flags and primary/secondary citations live on each.
The Cast Iron Collector — the recognized authority for the cross-maker dating cues (heat rings, gate marks, size numbers, ghost marks) and the per-maker mark chronologies, whose date ranges it frames as best estimates. castironcollector.com

Part of Cast Iron Cookware — A Catalog Reference. A synthesis of the nine maker pages; the exact, individually-sourced chronologies live there. The anatomy diagram is an original schematic. · Cast Iron 101 · Rust & Restoration · ↑ Back to all makers