In 1865 two Erie families associated by marriage joined in a modest venture to manufacture door hinges. Matthew Griswold (born June 6, 1833) together with his cousins, the brothers J.C. and Samuel Selden, formed a union that paved the way to the founding of The Griswold Manufacturing Company, recognized world wide as producers of fine cast iron products, especially cookware.
Matthew Griswold was twice elected as a Republican to Congress, sitting from March 1891 to March 1893, and from March 1895 to 1897. He died on May 19, 1919. His son, Matthew Griswold Junior, was president of the Griswold Manufacturing Company from 1905 to 1914. The Griswold Plaza in Erie is named in honor of his efforts to develop downtown Erie with a post office and railway station. Matthew Junior's brother Marvin was president of the company from 1914 until his death in 1926 during a period of rapid growth.
The company began making separable butt hinges and other light hardware products at a building called the Butt Factory beside the Erie Extension Canal. Other products were stovepipe dampers, thimbles, and other stove furniture. In the 1870s Griswold began to manufacture pots, grinding mills, waffle irons, and their famous Griswold Cast Iron Skillets, which was recognized not only for their trademark Erie and Griswold logos, but for their quality in their early production.
The company was renamed Selden & Griswold Manufacturing Company in 1873. In 1884 Matthew Griswold bought out the interests of the Seldon family. The next year there was a fire and the factory had to be rebuilt. In 1887 the company was reorganized and chartered as the Griswold Manufacturing Company.
Griswold began making tobacco cutters in 1883. In 1884 Matthew Griswold patented and manufactured a wheeled spittoon. Over the years that followed the company added products such as kettles, Dutch ovens, roasters, a grid iron and other various pots and pans. Cast-iron stovetop waffle irons were one of the company's earliest and most successful products, manufactured into the 1930s. The company gained a reputation for quality cast-iron products, particularly cookware, which were sold world-wide. The first aluminum cookware was a tea kettle made around 1893.
In 1903 the company moved to new premises at 12th and Raspberry Streets. In the 1920s Griswold began producing enameled items, and in the 1930s had added electrical items to their product line. Griswold acquired many patents over the years.
Miss Etta Moses worked for Griswold for over 50 years. She was given the job of handling letters from their customers asking for advice on using the company's products. In the 1920s she began publishing recipes and advice on cooking with cast iron using the pen name of Aunt Ellen. She authored Griswold's Booklet on Waterless Cooking, which was given free to purchasers of the Tite-Top Dutch Oven. Her picture appeared in advertisements for the cook pot in journals such as Good Housekeeping. A 1928 advertisement in Good Housekeeping described the Griswold Electric Waffle Baker, and invited readers to write to Aunt Ellen for details on making the waffle cream pie. Every day she dealt with a large correspondence from housewives asking for advice. She died in 1948.
By the 1940s the company was in financial difficulty, facing competition from manufacturers of more modern products while struggling with internal labor disputes and declining quality. Family members continued to own and run the company until 1946, when Ely Griswold sold it to a New York investment group and retired.
In March 1957, McGraw-Edison of Chicago, Illinois, acquired Griswold Manufacturing. Later that year the Griswold brand and housewares division were sold to the Wagner Manufacturing Company of Sidney, Ohio. The plant in Erie was closed in December 1957. When the factory closed sixty people were laid off.
Randall Corporation, the owner of Wagner since 1952, sold both companies to Textron in 1959. Textron sold them to the General Housewares corporation in 1969. General Housewares made products under the Griswold and Wagner brands until 1999 when it closed.
Classic cast-iron Griswold cookware is now prized by collectors. The main reason the items are collectible is that they have distinctive brand markings. Products from Griswold's later years and those made by Wagner are less valuable. Collectors should be wary of reproductions, which generally have a grainy finish and uneven and blurred lettering.
While most of the cookware is a desired collectible, almost all collectors avoid the small Griswold logo era. The former quality and casting isn't there, for the most part. The small emblem items are good for users of cast iron because they don't have the price tag of the collectibles and are great for function. There appears to be a much larger demand for cast iron, compared to those seeking cast aluminum, enameled, electric, or plated pieces. Eventually, Griswold's strongest competitor, The Wagner Manufacturing Company of Sydney, Ohio, ended up with ownership of their molds. The double stamped Wagner/Griswold emblems are not considered important collector's items, nor are the items that say Griswold but were really manufactured in Sydney, Ohio, by Wagner.
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| Griswold's first factory in Erie, which was located beside the Erie Extension Canal. It was called the "Butt Factory" by the local residence. |
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| Employees of Griswold's Erie factory (1940s or 50s) |
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| The cover of the oldest known Griswold catalog. |
