"Lodge today employs about 570 people, near its all-time high during the Covid pandemic, and is the largest employer in the county. It has employed three or four generations of some families. Collectors pay up for rare, vintage products like waffle irons and garden gnomes; a Grateful Dead pan fetched $4,100 in an auction at the Lodge Museum in 2024. Skillets get passed down in wills."
Pretty cool, and unusual. Unfortunately, most large, extended family entities begin fragmenting by the third generation as the family members rarely share the passion of the founders for whatever the entity does.
I think in the case of Lodge, there is a large assortment of descendants of the owners to choose from for corporate leadership, and all of the extended family makes some type of living from the company. There was a section in their museum about this.
Thanks for sharing the link. It was a good read. I see the industry as a growth sector as CI and CS are non-chemical non stick. I feel people will start going back to the "old" cooking methods as the industry continues to make the improvements (like pre-seasoned). I have only 2 CI pans and several enameled coated CI. They are great to cook with, but too heavy for my wife, so I will be looking for some small carbon steel pans for her in the near future
I got a 10" CS skillet off Amazon just to play with (Merten & Storck that was recommended by some on here), and like it a lot. It is certainly much lighter and I feel my wife would use it just fine, not that she cooks much lately. If she does, she reaches for the Oxo non-stick that I replace every few years. The current version of that is ceramic.
That was an interesting read. Thanks for sharing the article. When we would drive between Chicago and Florida, I would try to time it so we hit S. Pittsburg when the Lodge store was open. After a while, my wife caught on and started timing things so we passed by before it opened. Yet she never complains when I make her a heart shaped, deep dish pizza.
I bought their cast iron griddle that I use on a Weber gas grill. It takes up about half the area of a 3 burner version. It was in the mid $20s at Costco and I think it's now on sale again. Works great.
Pit Barrel Cooker
Weber Master-Touch
Blackstone Omnivore 4 Burner Griddle
Thermoworks: Signals, Billows, Thermopens, Thermopops, Nodes, bunch of silicone stuff, and more!
OnlyFire Rotisserie w/ Basket attachment for the Weber
Vortex for the Weber
Both of Meathead's books!
Way too many BBQ related accessories, tools, and doo-dads!
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