Wagner Ware sizing & dating — the complete reference

Wagner Manufacturing was founded in Sidney, Ohio, in 1891 by Bernard and Milton Wagner and became Griswold's main competitor. Its cast iron is as good as Griswold's for cooking — pre-1960 Wagner skillets have milled smooth cooking surfaces too — and it usually costs less, which makes it a favourite with people who buy vintage iron to use. Dating Wagner is mostly a matter of reading the mark on the bottom.

Wagner's marks in order

1. Plain WAGNER (1890s to about 1914). The word WAGNER, straight or in an arc, later with SIDNEY O. beneath it, plus a size number. Many of these early pans have heat rings and many were nickel plated.
2. Wagner Ware, plain lettering (about 1914–1922). Wagner began branding its cookware Wagner Ware around 1914; some patterns were modified to insert WARE between WAGNER and SIDNEY.
3. Stylized logo with heat ring and size number (about 1922–1924). The stylized logo — one large fancy W serving both words, with SIDNEY and -O- below — first appears around 1922.
4. Stylized logo with heat ring and catalog number (about 1924–1935). A four-digit catalog number with a mold letter appears, for example 1058 C on a No. 8 skillet. The 1924–1934 "pie logo" variant sets the number and letter in a wedge-shaped border with CAST IRON SKILLET lettering.
5. Stylized logo, smooth bottom (about 1935–1959). The heat ring disappears. These are the most common Wagner pans on the market.
6. After 1959. Textron bought Wagner and Griswold in 1959 and sold them to General Housewares in 1969; the Sidney foundry kept casting Wagner-branded iron until it closed in 1999. Later pieces typically read Wagner Ware with MADE IN USA and are valued as everyday cookware rather than collectibles.

How Wagner sizes compare with Griswold

Skillet size numbers come from the stove-eye openings of wood and coal ranges, not from a measurement in inches, and the major makers' numbers line up closely. A Wagner No. 8 is about 10½ inches across the top, the same size class as a Griswold No. 8. A Wagner No. 9 is about 11¼ inches — one size larger, not a Griswold No. 8 equivalent. A Wagner No. 7 is about 9½ inches and a No. 3 about 6½ inches. Listings sometimes give the cooking-surface diameter instead of the top-rim diameter, which is why a No. 7 can be described as a "7-inch" pan; ask which measurement the seller used. Weights vary from casting to casting, so don't treat a few ounces either way as a sign of a fake.

Catalog numbers worth knowing

• 1057, 1058, 1059 — the No. 7, No. 8 and No. 9 skillets.
• 1109 — the No. 9 round handle griddle, about 10¼ inches across the cooking surface.
• 1218 — the square skillet with a thumb-rest handle, about 9½ inches square, often listed as a griddle.
• 1268 — the No. 8 round roaster (Dutch oven), sold with several lids including the patented Drip Drop Baster lid.
• 1319 — the Junior Krusty Korn Kobs corn stick pan, patented July 6, 1920.
• 1323 and 1337 — 11-cup muffin and popover pans.
• 1408 — the No. 8 stovetop waffle iron with a 1925 patent date.

Wagner's tea-size corn stick pan, catalog 1317, has been reproduced; fakes show rough casting and wrong numbers such as 1318 or 1818.

Griswold after 1957

In March 1957 McGraw-Edison bought Griswold; that December it sold the Griswold housewares line to the Randall Company, which already owned Wagner, and the Erie plant closed. Later Griswold-branded pieces were made at the Wagner foundry in Sidney. They usually lack ERIE in the mark, and collectors value them well below Erie-made Griswold.

Magnalite is not cast iron

Wagner also made Magnalite, a line of cast aluminum cookware best known for its roasters. It is collectible in its own right but it is not iron, and Magnalite roasters and griddles crowd searches for Wagner Dutch ovens and square griddles. If a "Wagner roaster" is silver-grey and light, it is Magnalite.

Buying checks that apply to every Wagner piece

• Read the bottom. Confirm the size and catalog number match the listing and that the mark matches the era claimed.
• Flatness. Ask whether the pan sits flat without rocking or spinning; warp is permanent.
• Cracks. Look for hairline cracks running in from the rim and spouts, and around the bail ears on roasters.
• Plating. Nickel-plated pans, common in the early years, flake as the plating wears and are better treated as projects.
• Lids and bases. On roasters and waffle irons, the lid or base must match the body; ask for photos of both.