Cast Iron Heaven

My trip home from Huntsville, Alabama to Virginia took me through one of the most wonderful little cities Tennessee has to offer (in my opinion). The GPS was taking me to 503 South Cedar Avenue in South Pittsburg, Tennessee, the address of the Lodge Factory Store.

If you know cast iron skillets, you know the “Lodge” brand. They are sold in Cracker Barrels, hardware stores and even big box stores. Those skillets and a whole lot of other cast iron cooking stuff are made in South Pittsburg, Tennessee.

This fellow named Joseph Lodge started the company back in 1896. Lodge is still a family owned and operated business that rightfully claims to have the most extensive selection of quality cast iron goods on the market. Joseph had a secret formula for making cast iron. The “secret formula” is very important in all family owned and operated businesses, whether it be for recipes or cast iron.

Four generations of the Lodge family have continued to put cast iron skillets in homes. I used one at Thanksgiving, chances are you did too.

South Pittsburg doesn’t have an “h” in it, it doesn’t need one.

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania is the most misspelled city in America (they forget the h on the end). However, if you do spell it wrong, you are actually spelling South Pittsburg correctly.

Confused?

In 1890, it seems that President Benjamin Harrison established a board or committee or some other useless political group to go out and help the people in cities and towns decide where they live. President Harrison’s group said that cities that ended in “burgh” should be changed to “burg.”

This is just another example of politicians in Washington trying to mess something up that really isn’t any of their business. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania thumbed their nose at the spelling law after a few years. Good for them.

As for South Pittsburg, Tennessee, they’ve always spelled it that way - I think.

Where was I?

The Lodge Factory store in South Pittsburg is “Cast Iron Heaven.”

You walk in and you just feel stronger, you feel good, you feel American.

After going inside the store, I stopped and just stayed in the same spot and looked in amazement. There weren’t that many people in the store; it was a Monday just after noon.

I’m sure I looked silly. One of the nice ladies who worked there eased up to me and whispered, “We have a whole room full of blemished items in the back. You can get some good deals. They cook just the same.”

Whispering back to her, I said, “Ok, thanks, I’ll take a look.”

Walking around the store, I had to touch things. There is something about touching cast iron that just cranks my tractor. There was every size of skillet you could imagine. Dutch ovens, kettles, griddles and a whole lot of stuff that I had no idea what to call – but they were cast iron.

They say “Not even the most expensive stainless and aluminum cookware can rival the even heating, heat retention, durability and value of Lodge Cast Iron.”

I believe them. I’ve cooked with cast iron; I will continue to cook with cast iron.

Then, I started taking pictures. I enjoy pictures and I already have more cast iron than I need (it takes a couple of lifetimes to wear out if you treat it right). Another employee, Brittany, came up and asked if I’d like her to take my picture in front of the store.

I said, “Absolutely.” Brittany was very nice, I think she may have just wanted to go outside and see who the South Pittsburg Police had stopped in the parking lot.

She took my picture.

After coming back inside, I knew I needed to be on my way. I had a couple of more stops to make before leaving and I was hungry after being in the middle of more cast iron than you could shake a stick at.

Wanting a memento, I bought a black “Lodge Cast Iron” hat. It was not cast iron, it was a hat you wear – it was cotton or something. I chose the black one over the khaki one because Brittany said, “Black is slimming.” It made my head feel big, but I guess it didn’t look it.

I asked directions to the Dixie Freeze, my brother said I needed to stop there for lunch. One of the ladies pointed out the pane glass window and said, “See that stop sign – go down there and take a right, you can’t miss it.”

“That’s what I’ll do,” I responded.

It was a wonderful experience; I’m planning on going back to South Pittsburg for the National Cornbread Festival which is held there in April each year. The population swells from just over 3,000 to close to 60,000. They select a “National Cornbread Queen,” have lots of music, arts & crafts and of course, the world famous cornbread cook-off sponsored by Lodge, Martha White and a stove company up in Cleveland (Tennessee).

On to the Dixie Freeze…

Story about my trip to the Dixie Freeze - "The Dixie Dagwood"

Story about my trip to Harvey's Pirate Drive-In - "Pirates Eat Free"

More Pictures from the Lodge Factory Store.

(There's a video at the bottom of this page that shows you how cast iron is made.)

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