The Lodge 17 inch skillet

This is the Lodge 17 inch skillet. It apparently replaced the 20 inch skillet in 2002.

I was looking through some old Lodge catalogs, and noticed that the skillet size originally went from 15 inches, to 20 inches, with no 17 inch skillet.

Then in the 2002 catalog, the 20 inch skillet was gone and the 17 inch was there.

I wonder why? Did Lodge initially discontinue the 20 inch skillet due to high production cost, but due to customer demand, compromise with the 17 inch?

That's what is rumored to have happened with the 5 inch camp oven.

One advantage of the 17 inch skillet is, it can fit in most ovens, while the 20 inch is too big.

These large skillets, be it 17 or 20 inches, are used to cook outdoors for large groups of people.

It could also be used as a substitute for the Lodge fish pan, to fry large amounts of fish.

They were used at the annual balloon festival in Albuquerque, to cook breakfast for everyone. Eggs went in one skillet, bacon went in another.

So far I'm not able to justify getting one, but once people find out how good I cook, that could change.