Martin Stove & Range Co. No. 14 Skillet — Hamburger Logo
STEVE'S SEASONED CLASSICS
An Online Museum of American Cast Iron Heritage
stevesseasonedclassics.com
Other Makers · Cast Iron Skillets · Museum Collection
Florence, Lauderdale County, Alabama · c. 1917–1953
SSC MUSEUM COLLECTION · Catalog No. SSC-MAR-SKL-14-HBG-HR-FA-001
Hamburger Logo | No. 14 Size | Heat Ring | 2-Finger Assist | Florence, Alabama
c. 1917–1953 • Martin Stove & Range Co.
★ RARE LARGE SIZE — The Premier Southern American Cast Iron Maker ★
Bottom view of the Martin Stove & Range Co. No. 14: the hamburger logo emblem centered on the base — an oval device with MARTIN arching across the upper field, STOVE & RANGE CO. in the horizontal center band, and FLORENCE ALA arching across the lower field. The heat ring is cleanly defined at the base perimeter. The No. 14 is among the largest sizes in Martin's production run and among the scarcest — a skillet of this size required substantial iron, careful casting, and a buyer with genuine need for large-volume cooking. A Martin No. 14 in this condition, with the hamburger logo clearly defined, is not a piece that appears with frequency in any market.
The American cast iron story is, in most tellings, a northern story — Ohio foundries, Pennsylvania cities, New York capital. Martin Stove & Range Company of Florence, Alabama, is the exception that proves the rule. Founded on the Tennessee River in the northwest corner of the state, operating from 1917 through 1953 under the iconic hamburger logo, Martin produced a full line of cast iron hollow ware that rivaled the northern foundries in quality and surpassed most of them in regional loyalty. In the American South, a Martin skillet was not a secondary choice. It was the skillet.
This No. 14 is the largest size in the SSC collection and the most expensive single piece acquired to date at $1,071.73 — and both distinctions are appropriate to what it is. The No. 14 is not a workhorse size. It is a statement size — a skillet for large households, commercial cooking, or the kind of serious cast iron use that demands more cooking surface than any standard size can provide. Finding one in this condition, with the hamburger logo clearly defined, the heat ring intact, the two-finger assist handles present, and the cooking surface flat and sound, is not a routine acquisition event. It is the kind of find that experienced Martin collectors describe as a long-term search resolved.
Martin Stove & Range Company is not an Ohio foundry and does not belong to the Favorite Stove & Range corporate family that anchors the SSC Ohio Foundry Corridor collection. It belongs to a different American cast iron tradition — the southern foundry tradition, built along navigable rivers in the mineral-rich upper South, serving regional markets that the northern giants never fully penetrated. The SSC Other Makers collection exists precisely to document makers like Martin: significant American foundries whose output is historically important, whose pieces are genuinely collectible, and whose story deserves preservation alongside the Ohio foundry narrative.
Piece Details
Close-up of the Martin Stove & Range Co. hamburger logo on the No. 14 base: the oval emblem with MARTIN arching across the top arc, STOVE & RANGE CO. centered in the horizontal middle band, and FLORENCE ALA across the lower arc. The emblem is cast as a recessed element set within a raised oval border — the overall shape that earned the mark its collector nickname. The definition of the lettering and border on this No. 14 is consistent with a well-maintained pattern and a sound casting. The heat ring is visible at the base perimeter in the detail photograph — cleanly stepped and fully intact.
Manufacturer
Martin Stove & Range Co.
Brand Mark
Hamburger logo — oval emblem with MARTIN arching across upper field; STOVE & RANGE CO. in horizontal center band; FLORENCE ALA arching across lower field; recessed emblem set within raised oval border; consistent across the Martin production run from 1917 through hollow ware discontinuation in 1953
Piece Type
Skillet
Size Number
No. 14
Base Marking
Hamburger logo oval centered on base; heat ring at base perimeter
Bottom Configuration
Heat ring present and fully intact; smooth machined cooking surface inside ring; hamburger logo centered on base interior between heat ring and center
Assist Handles
Two-finger assist — two small rectangular tabs cast into the rim on the side opposite the main handle; standard Martin feature on larger sizes to aid lifting the substantial weight of a No. 14 skillet
Handle Style
Flat handle with teardrop open-center hang-hole; characteristic Martin handle configuration
Pour Spouts
Two opposing spouts at rim
Date of Manufacture
c. 1917–1953 (full Martin hollow ware production period; hamburger logo in use throughout)
Place of Manufacture
Florence, Lauderdale County, Alabama
Condition
Excellent — hamburger logo fully defined with clear lettering; heat ring intact and clean; base flat; no cracks, chips, or repairs; interior smooth with well-developed seasoning; two-finger assist handles structurally sound; display and use ready without conservation
Acquisition Date
November 20, 2025
Acquisition Source
eBay — Seller: mcna9695
eBay Item Number
296316673501
Order Number
23-13843-82215
Purchase Price
$949.00 item + $39.00 shipping (USPS Priority Mail) + $83.73 tax = $1,071.73 total
SSC Catalog Number
SSC-MAR-SKL-14-HBG-HR-FA-001
The Hamburger Logo: Martin's Signature Mark
The collector nickname is self-explanatory once you see it: the oval emblem with its raised border and horizontal center band bears an unmistakable resemblance to a hamburger bun in cross-section. MARTIN arches across the top half, STOVE & RANGE CO. occupies the horizontal center band, and FLORENCE ALA fills the lower arc. The overall effect is compact, legible, and immediately distinctive — a mark that reads clearly on a cast surface even when the relief is modest and the piece has seen generations of use.
The hamburger logo was Martin's primary brand mark throughout the hollow ware production period, in use from 1917 through 1953 — a 36-year run that makes it one of the longer-lived single marks in American cast iron production. Unlike some foundries that revised their marks frequently as brand identity evolved, Martin stayed with the hamburger logo from the beginning of their hollow ware line to its end. The consistency is both a production convenience and a statement of brand confidence: this is our mark, it identifies our work, and we are not changing it.
Within the hamburger logo production period, minor variations exist — slight differences in letter size, spacing, and oval proportions that experienced Martin collectors use to approximate dating within the 36-year window. The collector community has not reached full consensus on a precise dating framework for these variations, making period-specific attribution speculative without additional physical evidence. What can be said confidently is that this No. 14 carries the hamburger logo in the fully developed form consistent with Martin's mature production period, with lettering definition and oval border clarity that indicate a well-maintained pattern.
The Heat Ring: Function and Authentication
The heat ring on a Martin skillet serves the same functional purpose it serves on any cast iron skillet with this feature: it seats the pan on a wood or coal stove's burner opening, centering the heat source under the cooking surface and preventing the skillet from sliding on the stove top. The heat ring's presence is consistent with Martin's full production period — the foundry made cookware for an era when wood and coal stoves were standard kitchen equipment throughout the American South, and the heat ring was a practical necessity rather than a decorative element.
On this No. 14, the heat ring is cleanly defined and fully intact — the step at the base perimeter is sharp and even, with no warping, flattening, or damage to the ring geometry. On a skillet of this size and weight, a sound heat ring is meaningful evidence of careful original use: a No. 14 that had been dropped, dragged, or abused would show it in the heat ring geometry before anywhere else. The ring on this piece is clean.
The Two-Finger Assist: A Feature of the Large Sizes
The two small rectangular tabs cast into the rim on the side opposite the main handle — the feature that earned this piece its eBay listing descriptor "2 Finger Assist" — are a Martin design convention that appears on the larger sizes in the production run. The functional logic is straightforward: a No. 14 cast iron skillet is heavy. A fully loaded No. 14 — with a roast, a large quantity of stew, or a full measure of cornbread batter — is substantially heavier. Lifting and maneuvering that weight with a single handle is awkward and potentially hazardous. The two-finger assist tabs on the opposite side allow a second hand to steady and support the pan during transport, providing the bilateral grip that large skillets demand.
The tabs are cast as part of the skillet body — not a separate attachment, not a later addition, but part of the original pattern and pour. They are small enough to be grasped with two fingers rather than requiring a full grip, and their rectangular form provides a secure purchase without the thermal mass of a full second handle. On this No. 14 both assist tabs are present and structurally sound, flush with the rim geometry and consistent with the original casting.
Profile view of the Martin Stove & Range Co. No. 14 showing the substantial depth of sidewall appropriate to the large size, the clean heat ring step at the base perimeter, and the flat handle extending to the teardrop hang-hole. The hamburger logo is partially visible on the base at left. The overall scale of this skillet — significantly larger than the workhorse No. 8 or No. 10 — communicates immediately why the two-finger assist handles are a practical necessity rather than a decorative convention. The casting quality is consistent with Martin production at its best: even sidewall thickness, clean rim geometry, and a base that sits flat.
The No. 14 in the Martin Size Run: Scale and Scarcity
Martin's production run included sizes from the small specialty pieces through the large institutional sizes, with the No. 8 as the most commonly encountered size in the current collector market. The No. 14 sits at the large end of the skillet production range — a size produced in significantly lower volume than the workhorse sizes and surviving in smaller numbers today.
The scarcity of the No. 14 follows from its original market position. A No. 14 skillet was not a household purchase for the average Southern family of the early 20th century. It was a commercial kitchen purchase, an institutional purchase, or a purchase for a household with unusually large cooking needs. The market for No. 14 skillets was a fraction of the market for No. 8 or No. 10 skillets, and Martin's production volumes reflected that. Fewer were made. Fewer survived. Those that do appear in the collector market in sound condition command significant premiums — as the $949 acquisition price for this piece reflects accurately.
Among Martin collectors, the No. 14 with the hamburger logo, heat ring, and two-finger assist in Excellent condition is an acquisition goal rather than a routine find. The combination of the large size, the intact logo, and the structural soundness of this example places it at the upper tier of the Martin collector market. The $1,071.73 total acquisition cost — the highest single-piece investment in the SSC collection to date — is consistent with the piece's position in that market.
Top view of the Martin Stove & Range Co. No. 14 showing the large, clean interior cooking surface with well-developed seasoning, the two opposing pour spouts at the rim, the two-finger assist tabs visible on the left rim opposite the handle, and the characteristic Martin teardrop hang-hole handle at right. The scale of the cooking surface is immediately apparent — this is a skillet designed for serious volume cooking. The interior quality — smooth, evenly seasoned, flat — is consistent with the Excellent condition assessment.
Martin Stove & Range Co.: Company History
Martin Stove & Range Company was established in Florence, Lauderdale County, Alabama, in 1917–1918, when brothers W.H. and Charles Martin purchased the financially failing Florence Stove and Manufacturing Company and renamed it for themselves. The Martin brothers were not newcomers to the foundry business: in 1905, they had persuaded their employer, King Hardware Company of Atlanta, to purchase a small foundry in Sheffield, Alabama — just across the Tennessee River from Florence — and they had managed that operation, renamed King Stove & Range, for twelve years before purchasing it outright. Their acquisition of the Florence foundry in 1918 gave them two foundry operations on opposite banks of the same river, producing cast iron cookware and stoves under both the King and Martin names.
Florence sits in the northwest corner of Alabama, in the Tennessee Valley, where the river provided both transportation access and water power for industrial operations. The region's iron ore deposits and the availability of coal made it hospitable to foundry work, and the Martin brothers built their Florence operation into the premier cast iron cookware brand in the American South over the following decades. Their full line of hollow ware — skillets, griddles, Dutch ovens, bread pans, and specialty pieces — was produced under the hamburger logo from 1917 onward, distributed through hardware dealers, general merchandise stores, and the robust regional commercial networks of the pre-war South.
During World War II, the Florence and Sheffield foundries shifted to war production — magazine heaters for the U.S. Army from the Sheffield plant, and military hardware from Florence. After the war the company returned to civilian production, but the postwar period brought the transition to gas and electric cooking equipment that would eventually end the hollow ware line. Martin discontinued general manufacture of cast iron hollow ware in 1953 — a 36-year production run that left a legacy of collectible cookware stretching from the smallest specialty sizes to the largest institutional pieces. The company itself continued, reorganizing as Martin Industries, Inc., in 1974 and continuing to manufacture heating equipment. The Florence foundry was sold to former employees in the 1980s.
Corporate Timeline: Martin Stove & Range Co.
1905
W.H. and Charles Martin, salesmen for King Hardware of Atlanta, persuade their employer to purchase the Loman Stove Works of Sheffield, Alabama. The brothers take over management of the renamed King Stove & Range Company.
1917
The Martin brothers purchase King Stove & Range outright and acquire the financially failing Florence Stove and Manufacturing Company across the Tennessee River. The Florence operation is renamed Martin Stove & Range Company. The hamburger logo enters production as Martin's primary hollow ware brand mark.
1917–1953
Full hollow ware production period. The complete line of Martin skillets, including this No. 14, is produced under the hamburger logo. The foundry becomes the dominant cast iron cookware brand in the American South.
WWII
Florence and Sheffield foundries shift to war production — heaters and military hardware. Hollow ware production curtailed. Foundries return to civilian production after 1945.
1953
Martin Stove & Range Co. discontinues general manufacture of cast iron hollow ware. The 36-year hamburger logo production run ends. The company continues manufacturing stoves and heating equipment.
1974
The Martin companies merge to form Martin Industries, Inc. The Florence foundry eventually sold to former employees in the 1980s. Martin Industries continues to manufacture heating equipment.
2025
Steve's Seasoned Classics acquires this No. 14 from eBay seller mcna9695. Documented as SSC-MAR-SKL-14-HBG-HR-FA-001, the largest skillet and highest-value single acquisition in the SSC collection to date at $1,071.73.
Why This Piece Matters
The Martin Stove & Range Co. No. 14 matters for three reasons that are distinct but compound each other. First, it introduces the premier southern American cast iron maker into the SSC collection and establishes the Other Makers category as a genuinely national documentation project rather than an Ohio-centric one with peripheral additions. Martin was not a minor regional foundry — it was the dominant cast iron cookware brand in the American South for 36 years, producing a full line under a consistent mark that is among the most recognized in all of American cast iron collecting. Its presence in the SSC collection gives the museum a southern anchor to balance the Ohio foundry corridor emphasis.
Second, the No. 14 size with heat ring and two-finger assist in Excellent condition represents the high end of what the Martin collector market offers. Common Martin sizes in good condition are findable with patience. A No. 14 with all features intact, the logo clearly defined, and the cooking surface sound is a different category of acquisition — the kind of piece that experienced collectors describe as a long search concluded. The SSC collection's documentation of this piece at this level of physical detail creates a museum-quality record of the No. 14 configuration that exceeds what most collectors achieve even for pieces they own.
Third, at $1,071.73, this acquisition sets a new high-water mark for the SSC collection and reflects a curatorial judgment about what the collection is: not a budget accumulation of representative pieces but a museum-quality assembly of pieces that genuinely deserve preservation and documentation at the highest standard. A Martin No. 14 in Excellent condition with the full complement of features is worth documenting at that level. The SSC collection has the record to prove it.
The iron endures. The markings tell the truth. The story deserves to be told.
Sources & Further Reading
CastIronCollector.com — Martin Stove & Range Co. reference page: production period, location, founders, and marking documentation.
SouthernCastIron.com — "Forgotten Foundry: Martin Stove & Range Co.": collector reference article on Martin history and the hamburger logo.
Omeka at Auburn University — Florence Stove and Manufacturing Company historical documentation: founding, acquisition by the Martin brothers, and production history.
Encyclopedia.com — Martin Industries, Inc. corporate history: full company timeline from King Stove & Range through Martin Industries reorganization.
Muscle Shoals National Heritage Area — Regional history of the Martin Stove & Range operation in the Tennessee Valley.
WorthPoint.com — Historical auction records for Martin No. 14 hamburger logo pieces in comparable condition.
SSC Internal Collection Records — Ohio Foundry Corridor collection overview; Other Makers category documentation.
About Steve's Seasoned Classics
Steve's Seasoned Classics is an online museum dedicated to preserving and documenting the heritage of American cast iron cookware, with a focus on Ohio foundry pieces from the 19th and early 20th centuries. The SSC collection features over 60 pieces with detailed provenance, historical research, and photography for each item.
www.stevesseasonedclassics.com
