Our Signature Teardrop Handle
The Lodge product catalog has changed numerous times in our 125 years of business, but there’s one design element that appears in every single one of them: the teardrop shape of our cast iron skillet handle.
When we opened our foundry doors for business in 1896, there were several cast iron items in the catalog that you won’t see in it today: shoe lasts, sinks, clothing irons, tea kettles, waffle makers, grates, and much more. But the teardrop shape of our cast iron skillet handle has remained largely untouched.
The earliest catalog we have, from 1902-3 (printed in French), shows a single cast iron skillet available in four sizes:
Since that early design, the teardrop handle has been an integral part of our cookware, from hammered skillets to handles on waffle makers and griddles to our seasoned carbon steel cookware line.
According to Lodge CEO Emeritus Bob Kellermann, who has been with the company for over 48 years, the design is an integral part of Lodge cookware. "We've tried other shapes and people don't like that,” he says.“They keep wanting the traditional shape created by my great-grandfather, Joseph Lodge, 120 years ago."
Today, there are over 35 items in the Lodge catalog that contain the teardrop handle shape, including non-cookware items like the scrub brush and the Lodge skillet handle-inspired bottle opener developed in 2016.
Kellermann says it's a classic design Lodge plans to continue making. "It's served us well for 120 years, and hopefully it will serve us well for the future."
