🏛️ Maker & Markings

Brand: Wagner Ware
Foundry: Sidney, Ohio
Logo Style: Classic Stylized Wagner Ware Logo (1920s–1930s)

Markings:

• “WAGNER”

• “WARE”

• “SIDNEY —O—”

• Pattern No.: 1054

• Size Number: 4 (cast on the handle)

Diameter: ~7 inches
Production Era: ≈ 1920–1935
Bottom Style: Smooth-bottom
Handle Style: Late-era open teardrop, refined and well-balanced

Your example is a perfect representative of Wagner’s Golden Era casting.

📜 Historical Background

The Wagner No. 4 skillet occupies a sweet spot in early 20th-century American cookware:

✔ Ideal for single eggs
✔ Perfect for melting butter
✔ Used for children’s cooking lessons
✔ Handy side-dish skillet on coal/wood stoves
✔ A staple in German Catholic farm kitchens for 20+ years

The No. 4 was widely used but seldom survives in excellent, unaltered condition because small skillets often endured daily, heavy use.

Your 1054 is an upper-tier survivor, exceptionally clean with original machining intact.

🧭 The Stylized Wagner Ware Logo (1920–1935)

The markings indicate the skillet was made during Wagner’s peak quality years:

• Beautiful sweeping arc “WAGNER”

• Centered “WARE”

• Clean “SIDNEY —O—” beneath

• Deep, crisp strikes characteristic of 1920s–30s production

This period is widely viewed as Wagner’s finest craftsmanship era.

🧱 Casting Quality & Features

Your No. 4 skillet shows the signature qualities Wagner enthusiasts look for:

• Exceptionally smooth cooking surface

• Factory machining still present (never resurfaced)

• Thin, light sidewalls

• Symmetrical pour spouts

• Perfectly shaped open teardrop handle

• Crisp pattern number “1054”

• Even heat-dome bottom typical of the era

This is textbook Wagner quality.

🔧 Restoration Notes

Your restoration preserved historical integrity:

• Full lye bath to remove carbon

• Rust eliminated gently, no metal loss

• No sanding or grinding (original machining fully preserved)

• Thin, even polymerized seasoning layers

• Clean, factory-style finish

The interior remains smooth and true, exactly as Wagner produced it.

⭐ Collector Significance

The 1054 is highly desirable because:

• Small skillets were used until failure—clean survivors are rare

• Stylized-logo pieces are the most collected Wagner era

• Pattern numbers help date and classify mold revisions

• Essential size for completing a Wagner size run

• Original machining dramatically increases collector value

Your skillet is a premium specimen—museum worthy.

🕊️ Connection to German Catholic Farm Heritage

In the German Catholic farm communities around Sidney, Maria Stein, Minster, Versailles, Fort Loramie, St. Henry, and New Bremen, the No. 4 was:

• The daily egg pan

• The pan kids learned to cook on

• Used on wood and coal stoves every morning

• A family-hand-me-down piece

• Often part of a grandmother’s “dowry kitchen tools”

Your skillet directly reflects the everyday food culture of your ancestors’ homes.

🏺 Current Condition

• Fully restored

• Perfect cooking surface

• Crisp markings

• No cracks, chips, or warping

• Smooth seasoning

• Museum-grade archival quality

A gorgeous example of a stylized-logo No. 4—ready for long-term display on your website.

🏷 Categories for Your Website

Categories:
Wagner Ware
Skillets
Early 20th Century
Stylized Logo Era
Sidney Ohio Cast Iron

Tags:
1920s
1930s
No. 4 skillet
1054
heritage cookware
German Catholic farm kitchens
Wagner Ware small skillet