Life & Work with Maggie Stamper

Today we’d like to introduce you to Maggie Stamper.

Hi Maggie, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I’m Maggie Stamper and I am the owner of Old Time Cast Iron Restoration. I was raised in a small town north of Nashville, Greenbrier, Tennessee. I spent my childhood surrounded by one of the strongest women in my life, my grandmother, Mammie.

Every Sunday morning my family would leave church and head over to spend Sunday afternoon with Mammie. As we pulled up the driveway, I could hear the turn knob radio playing 650 AM from her kitchen window.

Her kitchen table had the most amazing spread of farm-fresh food prepared from her worn-out, arthritic hands. I was always impressed by her ability to cook an amazing meal, tend to the farm animals, garden, and strip tobacco.

As a young mother, I wanted to cook meals that represented the heritage of my upbringing. I longed to bring to my family what Mammie brought to our family. In doing so, I had to grow my kitchen. I needed the tools to prepare food and an assortment of dishes and serving platters. While at a yard sale, I found two cast iron pieces for $5 each. Riddled with rust, the pans were in dire need of restoration. I had no understanding at that time of how to cook with cast iron; Mammie always used cheap pots and pans and Pyrex bowls.

I spent several hours researching how to restore cast iron. I joined groups on Facebook and watched very closely how they restored cast iron. I was captivated and slowly started to learn the process of restoring cast iron in more advanced and safer ways. After restoring one cast iron, I had to find another one and then another and another one.

My husband, friends, and brothers-in-law encouraged me to open up my own business in restoring cast iron skillets. I absolutely love what I do, and the smiles that I’m able to bring to my client’s faces. Since 2017, I’m so thankful and blessed by God to have the amazing support that I have from everyone around me.

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
I do have challenges, several challenges.

What I do can be quite complicated, especially when no one knows what I’m talking about.

It makes what I do, much more complicated. Especially when I have to go to a tool store to find tools and materials for building an electrolysis tank.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m a mother of three children and homeschool my youngest two children. Being a stay-at-home mom who homeschools can be extremely challenging.

My business has allowed me to deal with the day-to-day stress. However, my children can successfully build their own e-tanks and restore their own cast iron skillets.

They have taken time from their summer schedule to buy cast iron, restore, and sell their restored pieces.

Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
Do I have to answer this? Just kidding! Growing up, I struggled a lot and didn’t do well at all in school. I had no idea why learning was so complicated. Everything was so hard. I cried almost every single day after school. I felt alone and miserable. Mammie always told me a story about a man who lived on the wooded hillside.

He couldn’t speak and all the town’s kids who walked passed his home made fun of him. She said his name was Dick Ellem. I named the hill Dick Ellem’s hill. Many a time, I would climb the hill and think of the story she told me. We had the same thing in common: Something we couldn’t help. I do believe the story was just that, a story.

However, I have found much strength in the story she told me, and have passed the story down to my children.

After I graduated from high school, I went to Vol. State. In one of my classes, I ran out of notebook paper. I had colored paper instead. As I started to write my notes, I realized why things were so hard for me in school. I had dyslexia. My numbers were always written backward in some form.

My math teacher helped me during her planning period and I was entirely thankful that she put so much value into me.

Pricing:

• Standard skillets are between $25 and $50 depending on the damage.
• Unique designs are $30 and up.
• Large cast iron can average $50 and up.

Contact Info:

• Email: maggiepstamper@gmail.com
• Website: https://oldtimecastiron.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oldtimecastiron/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/OldTimeCastIron
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGrZvfZmS4lGTrfD231N_uw
• Other: https://www.pinterest.com/OldTimeCastIron

Image Credits
Simply Sweet Photography/The Venable Sisters