Cracker Barrel American Heritage Skillets

Cracker Barrel restaurants sell their own line of cast iron pans with the Cracker Barrel logo. These pans have always been made by Lodge Cast Iron. Beginning in 2012, Cracker Barrel began selling a line of cast iron skillets with an "American" themed design on the underside. In 2014 they officially named this their "American Heritage" series. These "American Heritage" cast iron skillets have been delivered to Cracker Barrel restaurants during March and April of each year. The restaurant chain sells them during their annual "American Heritage" theme sale each spring, especially during the period between Memorial Day and the Fourth of July. After July 4, Cracker Barrel changes their restaurant theme to autumn and fall, and any remaining items from their "American Heritage" series are placed on sale at a discount. Of course, at many Cracker Barrel restaurants, the "American Heritage" cast iron skillet has sold out well before the Fourth of July!

Here are photos of the cast iron pans sold at its restaurants as part of its "American Heritage" series:

2012

Cracker Barrel sold a cast iron skillet with an American Eagle print. This design was actually a remake of a cast iron skillet design produced by Lodge Cast Iron with a "United We Stand" logo. Those skillets were originally designed and produced by Lodge as a memorial to the tragedy of September 11, 2001.

The Cracker Barrel skillet. This was sold in a 10-inch (#8) and 6-inch (#3) size:

The Lodge Cast Iron "United We Stand" skillet from 2001:

2013: The "Statue of Liberty" skillet

Cracker Barrel sold a skillet with a Statue of Liberty design. As with the 2012 skillet, this was sold in 10-inch and 6-inch sizes.

2014: The "Buffalo Nickel" skillet

2014 was the first year Cracker Barrel officially produced its "American Heritage" series. In 2014 Lodge Cast Iron provided skillets to Cracker Barrel's restaurants with a design based upon the classic "Buffalo Nickel" coin of the early 1900s. All of the skillets in the "American Heritage" series have been only produced in a 10-inch size. After the 2014 Cracker Barrel series sold out, Lodge Cast Iron continued to produce the "Buffalo Nickel" skillet under its own name for several years after. Note that because this design was copied from the actual coin, it was not copyrighted because the United States Government cannot copyright its own productions. Therefore, Lodge was able to produce this skillet on its own without having to pay any licensing fees to the government – or to Cracker Barrel.

2015: The "American Seal" skillet

From 2015 through the present day, the "American Heritage" series has had a different unique design each year.

2016: The "Liberty Bell" skillet

2017: The "Abraham Lincoln" skillet

2018: The "Mount Rushmore" skillet

2019: "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere" skillet

2020: The "George Washington" skillet

2021: The "United We Stand" skillet

2022: The "Lady Liberty" skillet, a.k.a. "Walking Liberty"

In 2022, Cracker Barrel named this design “Lady Liberty.” However, the design is actually based upon the “Walking Liberty” United States 50 cent coin from the early 20th century. As with the Buffalo Nickel skillet, iIf this new pan is based upon the design of the coin then the image is not copyrighted because it is a production of the United States government. (The pan is copyrighted by Lodge, but Lodge won't have to pay royalties to the US Government…or to Cracker Barrel, if they keep producing it after it sells out at Cracker Barrel.)