Puritan No. 8 Cast Iron Skillet
SSC MUSEUM COLLECTION
Catalog No. SSC-PURITAN-SKL-8-1925-001
“PURITAN” Mark | No. 8 Size | Piqua, Ohio
Circa 1916–1934 • Favorite Stove & Range Co. (for Sears, Roebuck & Co.)
Bottom view showing “PURITAN” cast in block letters at 12 o’clock and size numeral “8” near the handle junction. Smooth base with no heat ring. The teardrop hanging loop handle confirms Favorite Stove & Range production, distinguishing this piece from Griswold-made Puritans.
The Puritan brand occupies a peculiar and instructive place in the history of American cast iron. It was not a foundry name. It was not a manufacturer’s mark. It was a store brand—cast iron produced by one company, sold under another’s label, and marketed to consumers who may never have known the name of the foundry that made the pan in their kitchen. In the case of this No. 8 skillet, that foundry was the Favorite Stove & Range Company of Piqua, Ohio—one of the most significant cast iron manufacturers in the Ohio Foundry Corridor, operating from 1889 to 1935 on a ten-acre industrial campus that made Piqua known as “The Favorite City.”
Puritan cast iron was produced for Sears, Roebuck & Co., the retail giant that dominated American consumer goods distribution in the early twentieth century. Sears did not make anything—it sold everything, sourcing from the best manufacturers in each category and applying its own brand names to create product tiers. In cast iron, Sears operated a multi-brand strategy: Griswold of Erie, Pennsylvania made Puritans for Sears alongside Best Made and Merit pieces, while Favorite Stove & Range made Puritans down in Piqua. The two foundries’ Puritan lines are easily distinguished by collectors: Griswold-made Puritans carry the distinctive Erie handle shape and four-digit pattern numbers, while Favorite-made Puritans—like this No. 8—carry the characteristic teardrop hanging loop and are identical in every respect other than the trademark to Favorite’s own branded cookware.
For the SSC collection, this Puritan No. 8 is a direct expansion of the Favorite Stove & Range corporate lineage—the grouping that already includes Favorite Piqua Ware, Columbus Hollow Ware (“The Favorite”), and Miami. The Puritan brand adds the Sears retail dimension to the story: a Piqua foundry’s iron, cast in an Ohio river town, shipped to a Chicago mail-order warehouse, and distributed to households across America through the most powerful retail catalog of its era.
Piece Details
Top view showing a clean, well-seasoned cooking surface with smooth finish characteristic of Favorite Stove & Range production. Dual opposing pour spouts at 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock positions. The piece sits flat and shows no warping.
Manufacturer
Favorite Stove & Range Co.
Brand
Puritan (store brand for Sears, Roebuck & Co.)
Piece Type
Skillet
Size Number
No. 8
Base Marking
“PURITAN” in block letters at 12 o’clock; “8” near handle junction
Bottom Configuration
Smooth base, no heat ring
Pour Spouts
Two opposing spouts at 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock positions
Handle Style
Long flat handle with teardrop/keyhole hanging loop
Date of Manufacture
Circa 1916–1934
Place of Manufacture
Piqua, Miami County, Ohio
Condition
Very Good — legible markings; sits flat; no cracks, chips, or active rust; clean seasoned interior; display and use ready
Acquisition Date
February 11, 2026
Acquisition Source
eBay — Seller: the_picking_pup
eBay Item Number
358176379622
Order Number
19-14210-21743
Purchase Price
$59.99 item + $20.90 shipping + $6.86 tax = $87.75 total
SSC Catalog Number
SSC-PURITAN-SKL-8-1925-001
The Sears Connection: Store Brands and the Ohio Foundry Corridor
The store brand model was one of the defining features of early-twentieth-century American consumer goods manufacturing. Sears, Roebuck & Co. did not build foundries—it contracted with the best existing foundries and applied its own brand names to create a tiered product offering. In cast iron cookware, this meant that an Ohio housewife ordering from the Sears catalog in 1925 might receive a Puritan skillet made sixty miles up the road in Piqua without ever knowing it. The pan arrived with the Sears imprimatur, not the Favorite name, and the foundry’s identity was effectively invisible to the end consumer.
This arrangement suited both parties. Sears gained access to high-quality cast iron from an established foundry without the capital investment of building its own. Favorite gained access to the largest retail distribution network in America—the Sears catalog reached millions of households—without the marketing costs of building a national consumer brand. The Puritan name was Sears’ property, applied across multiple manufacturers: Favorite in Piqua made Puritans, and Griswold in Erie made Puritans, and the consumer saw only the brand, not the foundry.
For collectors, this dual-manufacturer history makes Puritan pieces an interesting identification exercise. Favorite-made and Griswold-made Puritans are physically distinct: the handle geometry, the pattern numbers, and the casting characteristics all differ. This No. 8 carries the unmistakable Favorite handle—the teardrop hanging loop at the terminus, the flat profile, and the overall proportions that match Favorite Piqua Ware production exactly. It is, in every functional sense, a Favorite Piqua Ware No. 8 skillet wearing a Sears label.
Physical Characteristics & Condition Assessment
The No. 8 is the workhorse size of the American cast iron skillet line—the size that every foundry produced in the highest volume, the size that saw the most daily use in American kitchens, and the size that survives in the greatest numbers today. At approximately 10¼ inches across the top rim, it is large enough for a family meal and manageable enough for everyday handling. This Puritan No. 8 delivers exactly the quality of casting that Favorite Stove & Range was known for: a smooth cooking surface, even walls, and the kind of light, balanced construction that made Ohio Foundry Corridor skillets preferred by cooks who used them daily.
The base carries “PURITAN” in clean block letters at the 12 o’clock position, with the size numeral “8” cast near the handle junction. The bottom is smooth with no heat ring—consistent with a later-production Favorite casting. Two opposing pour spouts at the 3 o’clock and 9 o’clock positions are well-formed and proportionate. The handle terminates in a teardrop hanging loop and the overall construction is identical to Favorite Piqua Ware production.
The cooking surface is clean and well-seasoned, with the even dark finish that indicates either careful maintenance over its working life or professional restoration. The piece sits flat with no warping or wobble. No cracks, cold shuts, or structural damage are present. Condition is assessed as Very Good—display ready and fully functional for cooking.
Corporate Timeline: Favorite Stove & Range Co.
1848
W.C. Davis Company founded in Cincinnati, Ohio. The foundry later reforms as Great Western Stove Works after 1865.
1872–88
William King Boal becomes controlling partner. After Davis’ retirement in 1880, Boal renames the firm Favorite Stove Works. Operations relocate to Piqua, Ohio.
1889
Favorite Stove & Range Co. formally established in Piqua, Miami County, Ohio. The foundry occupies a ten-acre campus and becomes Piqua’s largest manufacturer, employing 550–600 workers.
1916
William King Boal dies. His son William Stanhope Boal takes over and ramps up hollow ware production. The Puritan line for Sears begins during this expansion period, alongside the Favorite Piqua Ware and Miami brands.
1916–34
Puritan cast iron produced for Sears, Roebuck & Co. Pieces are identical to Favorite-branded ware except for the trademark. Full line production includes skillets, lids, griddles, dutch ovens, waffle irons, and muffin pans.
1919
A labor strike hits the firm. Workers demand a 25 percent wage increase. The strike lasts eleven days before resolution.
1923
Stanhope Boal steps down as president. The company continues under new leadership.
1935
Favorite Stove & Range Co. ceases operations permanently. Patents, tooling, and trademarks sold to Foster Stove Company of Ironton, Ohio. Cookware line tooling and patterns sold to Chicago Hardware Foundry.
Why This Piece Matters
The Puritan No. 8 adds a new dimension to the SSC Favorite Stove & Range corporate lineage—the Sears store brand chapter. Where Columbus Hollow Ware’s “The Favorite” mark tells the story of the brand’s origins in a prison foundry, and Favorite Piqua Ware tells the story of the brand’s maturity as a nationally recognized cookware line, the Puritan mark tells the story of how Ohio foundry iron reached American kitchens through the most powerful retail distribution channel of its era. Same foundry, same patterns, same iron—different label, different customer, different story.
The SSC collection now documents multiple threads of the Favorite corporate lineage: Columbus Hollow Ware (“The Favorite” logo, 1882–1902), Favorite Piqua Ware (the company’s own premium brand, 1916–1935), Miami (the economy line), and now Puritan (the Sears store brand, 1916–1934). Together, these pieces reconstruct the full commercial strategy of a single Ohio foundry—a company that understood branding, retail partnerships, and market segmentation a century before those concepts became business school curriculum. Piqua, Ohio produced iron that ended up in Sears catalogs, hardware stores, and department stores across America, under names that most consumers never traced back to a ten-acre foundry campus in Miami County.
The iron endures. The markings tell the truth. The story deserves to be told.
Sources & Further Reading
CastIronCollector.com — Favorite Stove & Range Co. reference page: operational dates (1889–1935), location (Piqua, Miami County, Ohio), founder (William King Boal), and brand names (Piqua Ware, Miami, Puritan).
CastIronCollector.com — Store Brands reference page: Puritan production by both Favorite Stove & Range and Griswold for Sears, Roebuck & Co.; identification distinctions between Favorite-made and Griswold-made Puritans.
BoonieHicks.com — “Guide to Favorite Piqua Ware: Favorite Stove and Range Co.”: factory history, brand names, Puritan/Sears relationship, and dating guidance (c. 1916–1934 for Puritan line).
SSC Internal Collection Records — Favorite Stove & Range corporate lineage documentation: Columbus Hollow Ware, Favorite Piqua Ware, Miami, and Puritan.
About Steve’s Seasoned Classics
Steve’s Seasoned Classics is an online museum dedicated to preserving and documenting the heritage of American cast iron, with a focus on Ohio foundry pieces from the 19th and early 20th centuries. The SSC collection features over 130 pieces with detailed provenance, historical research, and photography for each item.
