A Private Collection of Ohio Cast Iron
Dedicated to the descendants of Henry J. and Cecilia Brandewie Thaman
What This Is
Steve’s Seasoned Classics is a private cast iron collection devoted to obscure, defunct Ohio foundries—the makers whose work has often been overlooked, misidentified, or left out of standard collector references.
The collection currently includes more than 130 pieces representing over 50 Ohio makers, spanning roughly the mid-19th century through 1905.
This site serves as both an archive and a research project: a place to document, preserve, and interpret the surviving work of Ohio foundries whose histories are scattered, incomplete, or nearly forgotten.
A Note on Research Methods
Steve’s interest in cast iron began in the early 1980s, when his mother gave him a Wagner Ware Sidney “O” skillet—a piece that began a lifelong interest in American cast iron history.
Today, Steve directs all research, examines every piece personally, and makes every attribution decision based on physical evidence, collecting experience, and available records.
AI tools are used in a supporting role for drafting, cross-referencing, and organizing research, much as a researcher might use any modern reference aid.
Physical artifacts remain the foundation of every catalog entry, no attribution is published without direct examination, and where primary sources are incomplete or unavailable, that limitation is stated plainly.
Anchor Pieces
Two pieces hold particular personal significance in the collection:
The Crown Jewel — A Shinnick Hattan & Co. No. 9 tea kettle, cast in Zanesville, Ohio and dated June 23, 1863. The oldest datable piece in the collection.
The Centerpiece — A complete production run of Wagner Ware Sidney “-O-” skillets, No. 0 through No. 14, made in Sidney, Ohio.
Where to Start
The Collection — Pre-1905 Ohio cast iron, Wagner Ware, Favorite Piqua Ware, Columbus Hollow Ware, and more.
Library — Identification notes, research write-ups, and (coming October 2026) two free public-domain books.
Restoration — Cast iron cleaning and seasoning services for privately owned pieces.
Iron Pot Kitchen — Heritage recipes cooked in cast iron. Fried chicken, cornbread, pot roast, and more.
Contact — Identification questions, restoration inquiries, and general correspondence.
How This Started
Active collecting began in August 2025, after a 2024 trip to Ohio reconnected Steve with his family’s roots in the German Catholic farming communities of Mercer, Auglaize, and Shelby counties—the region known as the Land of the Cross-Tipped Churches.
The iron made in Sidney, Piqua, Wapakoneta, and other Ohio towns became first a personal interest, then a focused collection, and finally this website.
A long-form family history, The Road from Nellinghof, tracing the Thaman and Brandewie lines from medieval Westphalia to western Ohio, is planned for release alongside the cast iron book The Kettle and the War as free public-domain PDFs in October 2026.
The collection is not for sale and is being preserved intact for eventual donation to an Ohio institution as a unified record of the state’s cast iron heritage.
Preserving Ohio's Cast Iron Heritage — One Piece at a Time.
www.stevesseasonedclassics.com
