Ted;
I am in 100% agreement with you on the cast iron. In my part of the world though we made JohnnyCakes on a cast iron Griddle & Cornbread in a skillet.
When my Dad & Mom married Dad's mother gave Mom a griddle which had the handle broken off. Mom lived to 93 & never had another griddle. I still have it though my Wife & I found another with the handle intact prior to getting Mom's so we don't use it that much now. These griddles are round with a diameter of 10 inches & a shallow wall around them no more than 3/8" deep. To make the "Hoe Cakes" we pour a ladle of batter on & let it spread to about Ľ" thick brown it & flip & brown the other side. Many recipes for these call for only corn meal & water, but we generally use some milk & an egg.
We also make potato cakes from leftover mashed potatoes essentially the same way.
All I have ever known or read on the subject was there were essentially three classes of cornbread based on their thickness. The thinnest was the Johnny or hoecakes, next up was pone bread & then the thickest was Skillet bread.
