Buckeye Iron & Brass Works 2” Fig. 671 Cleanout Cap
This cast iron cleanout cap was produced by Buckeye Iron & Brass Works of Dayton — the foundry the Wright Brothers walked into when they needed an aluminum crankcase for the engine that would fly at Kitty Hawk. Some of the best stories in American cast iron are not on skillets. They are on the workpieces that built the infrastructure.
The Madison Foundry Co. Enameled Mini Skillet Ashtray
Madison Foundry didn't make skillets. They made manhole covers. This mini skillet ashtray was their calling card — a promotional piece that sat on a city engineer's desk, catching ashes and advertising the Cleveland foundry that cast the iron beneath the city's streets. Five Cleveland foundries now in the SSC collection.
Superior Foundry Inc. Cast Iron Melting Scoop
Finding one piece from Superior Foundry is hard. Finding two is what happens when you know what to look for. This melting scoop carries the same Cleveland mark as the miniature bowl — and its original working patina tells the story of a tool that actually melted metal in a Cleveland workshop.
The Cleveland Foundry Co. Star & Sunburst Sad Iron Trivet
In 1888 they were casting trivets. By 1921 they were Perfection Stove Company. This star and sunburst trivet — patented 1891, just three years after the Cleveland Foundry Co.'s founding — is where one of America's great heating appliance brands began. Twelve dollars and fifty cents.
Lake City Malleable Co. No. 5 Lead Casting Ladle
This No. 5 casting ladle carries Cleveland's name on its handle — made by The Lake City Malleable Co., a Cuyahoga County foundry known for industrial ladles, kitchen utensils, and elegantly cast advertising figurines.
Foster Stove Company No. 8 Chicken Fryer
This deep-sided No. 8 chicken fryer from Foster Stove Company of Ironton, Ohio completes the Favorite corporate lineage in the SSC collection — from Columbus Hollow Ware through Favorite Piqua Ware, Miami, Puritan, and now Foster.
The Canton Cake Griddle — Three-Cake Flop Griddle
Before the electric griddle, there was the flop griddle — and Canton Cake Griddle Co. of Canton, Ohio built one of the best. Three wells, a hinged flat lid, one motion: perfect pancakes, no spatula required.