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. Until the spring of 2024, these "American Heritage" cast iron skillets were delivered to Cracker Barrel restaurants during March and April of each year. The restaurant chain sold them during their annual "American Heritage" theme sale each spring, especially during the period between Memorial Day and the Fourth of July. The last year the "American Heritage" series was produced for Cracker Barrel was 2024; though their stores have continued selling cast iron pans as part of this series since then. The cast iron pans sold through Cracker Barrel since 2025 have still been made by Lodge Cast Iron, but none of them were produced exclusively for Cracker Barrel.
Here are photos of the cast iron pans sold at its restaurants as part of its "American Heritage" series:
2011
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. Lodge Cast Iron described this pan on their own Web site: "Initially, Cracker Barrel only planned to sell the American Eagle Skillet to commemorate the 10-year anniversary of 9/11. The design is inspired by a skillet that was first released in 2001 to honor the lives lost in the September 11 attacks and features an eagle and flag design similar to the original skillet. The skillet struck a chord with collectors, and Cracker Barrel decided to work with Lodge to create the Statue of Liberty Skillet the following year and has continued releasing a new skillet annually." However, the Lodge Web site incorrectly lists the year of production for the "Buffalo Nickel" skillet (see below) as 2015. In fact, this pan was produced in 2014.
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:
2012
Cracker Barrel sold a skillet with a Statue of Liberty design. As with the 2011 skillet, this was sold in 10-inch and 6-inch sizes.
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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.
As of January 2026, the Buffalo Nickel skillet was still available on the Lodge Cast Iron Web site. This is the only design from the "American Heritage" series to be reproduced by Lodge after the initial Cracker Barrel run sold out.
2015: The "American Seal" Skillet
From 2015 through the present day, the "American Heritage" series has had a different unique design each year. The 2015 "American Heritage" skillet had a design based upon the Great Seal of the United States. According to Cracker Barrel, this was their best-selling pan of the serries. It was popular enough for Cracker Barrel to re-release several years later, in 2023.
2016: The "Liberty Bell" Skillet
2017: The "Abraham Lincoln" Skillet
2018: The "Mount Rushmore" Skillet
When this skillet was released in 2018, there were a lot of political arguments in the cast iron collectors' community. However, all of the arguments were about the politics involved with the original design and construction of the Mount Rushmore monument, not the cast iron pan itself.
2019: "The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere" Skillet
2020: The "George Washington" Skillet
The 2020 "George Washington" skillet was the first "American Heritage" skillet produced with a size of 12 inches, rather than the standard 10.25 inches. 2020 was the first year of the coronavirus quarantine, and many businesses were closed during the spring and summer. This included Cracker Barrel. It's likely not many of these pans were sold that year, though sales figures are not available.
2021: The "United We Stand" Skillet
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. In 2020 Lodge Cast Iron released a cast iron skillet as part of its own "Made In America" series (not part of the Cracker Barrel series) with an image of "Rosie the Riveter," the World War II icon; and many people used that as a symbol of United States standing together and battling the COVID-19 pandemic. Although Cracker Barrel never confirmed this, it's possible their 2021 "United We Stand" skillet was intended for the same purpose, to be used as a symbol of the country coming together to fight against the threat of the pandemic.
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. This design was very popular with collectors, as it was based upon one of the most attractive and collectible coins in American history. Because of familiarity with the coin, this pan has been called the "Walking Liberty" skillet by collectors when found without the original label. It has been seen regularly on eBay with asking prices of over $100. As with the Buffalo Nickel skillet, the original design of the coin 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 decide to re-release this skillet. Unfortunately, as of 2026 Lodge has not re-released a pan with this design.)
2023: The "American Seal" (12-inch) Skillet
After the 2020 skillet, the 2023 "American Heritage" pan was the second in the Cracker Barrel series to measure 12 inches in size; though the design was a re-release of the 2015 Cracker Barrel “American seal” skillet. Jeff Rogers, "The Culinary Fanatic," wrote on Facebook: "This year’s Cracker Barrel Old Country Store American Heritage Skillet features the United States Seal. The 10.25” version of this design was their most popular ever, and this beautiful 12” version – their most popular size – has now become the latest installment in the series. " (April 27, 2023)
2024: The "Made In America" Skillet
The 2024 Cracker Barrel "American Heritage" skillet is the first pan in this series to prominently feature the Lodge Cast Iron logo. It's also the first pan since the original 2012 "American Eagle" skillet that does not have an original design exclusive to Cracker Barrel. In 2021 Lodge Cast Iron released a "Made In America" skillet with an American flag design and has continued to sell this pan at its own stores and on its web site. The 2024 Cracker Barrel skillet is the Lodge "Made In America" skillet, with the logo slightly modified to make it "exclusive" to Cracker Barrel. In 2024 the pan was once again 10 inches in diameter.
This was the second year in a row the Cracker Barrel skillet has not given an original design not seen before; this was simply a modified version of a "Made In America" skillet produced by Lodge in 2022. The 2023 skillet was also a reissue of their 2015 "American Seal" skillet, though in a bigger size. It made me wonder if these annual unique Cracker Barrel skillets may have been nearing their end. In fact, this turned out to be the case.
2025 and After
Collectors of the Cracker Barrel "American Heritage" series looked forward to the release of a new cast iron skillet in 2025, but this did not happen. Cracker Barrel continued to make cast iron pans with several different designs available at their stores, including the "Homestyle" skillet along with Lodge's own popular "Yellowstone" and "Dolly Parton" series. But no pans were made exclusively available in 2025.
