Thanks to a few wayward clicks when searching online for a favorite piece of dinnerware, Mary’s mouse hovered over an image of an antique cast-iron Griswold gem pan, a decoratively shaped muffin pan, which she quickly learned was highly collectable. Once the pan arrived at her home in Minnesota, it was cleaned, seasoned, and admired, and then deemed to need a few companions. A nearby auction afforded Mary the opportunity to quickly jump into collecting, and she ended up going home with around 60 pans. Thus began her adventure in learning to clean, identify, and resell vintage cast iron.
These events happened right on the cusp of cast iron becoming a common collector’s item, so Mary was able to easily find a number of nice pieces. Her then-hobby involved researching, tracking, buying, cleaning, and reselling vintage and antique pieces, until one day, it wasn’t a hobby anymore. “My brother-in-law teased me,” Mary says, “that once you start making money on it, that’s when the IRS considers it a business!” So she dove into making the business a success. Compared to her main career in the legal field, Mary found her quiet cast-iron pursuit relaxing. Day to day she deals with high-conflict and emotional situations, so she is happy to find peace in her collecting and restoration work.
Thanks for sharing your enthusiasm and love for history and bringing it to light. 🙂 we are collectors to but I’m sure your collection would be something to see. Thanks for sharing this awesome story! ! We love wapaks (Indian head) and starting to victor.