Vintage Inspired, Modern Made

Before the countless nights of research, the years of testing and retesting molds and finishes, and the prototypes that never seemed like they’d make it onto store shelves, many modern cast iron-makers’ stories began with a single vintage cast-iron skillet with a history as strong as that well-seasoned black iron.

That’s how Butter Pat Industries founder Dennis Powell got started—with an heirloom skillet from his beloved grandmother Estee. For Isaac Morton, it was a smooth-surfaced Griswold No. 8 skillet—a gift from his sister-in-law—that led to backyard tinkering and eventually the founding of Smithey Ironware. The same goes for Mark Longenecker, who founded Lancaster Cast Iron with college-friend-turned-business-partner Brandon Moore after falling in love with a 120-year-old Erie Griswold skillet at a young age. For these cast iron artisans