Union Mfg Co Cast Iron Cover / Face Plate
Toledo, Ohio cast its iron with industrial purpose. This Union Mfg Co circular cover plate — 7¾ inches of gray iron marked UNION MFG CO · TOLEDO O in crisp raised relief around the rim — is not cookware. It is the other side of the Ohio foundry record: the fittings, covers, and closures that sealed furnace ports, boiler inspection openings, and gas line flanges in the buildings of a city that grew from 31,000 people in 1880 to over 168,000 by 1910. Somebody cast this piece in Toledo, bolted it over an opening, and left it to do its work. The Union Mfg Co foundry that made it has left almost no trace in the historical record. This cover plate survives to say it was there.
Ahrens & Arnold No. 3 Skillet — Wapakoneta Mark
Ahrens & Arnold operated in Wapakoneta, Ohio, for only a few years in the late 1920s — founded by former Wapak Hollow Ware employees after that foundry's closure, documented in almost no historical record, and known to collectors today through a handful of surviving pieces. This No. 3 cast iron skillet carries the full A&A marking layout in exceptional condition: the CAST · IRON · SKILLET arc with raised dot word separators, the AA arrow emblem, and the WAPAKONETA / OHIO. origin text with its characteristic terminal period — every authentication marker present and clearly legible. One of the rarest named makers in the American cast iron corpus, now documented in the SSC collection alongside its Wapak Indian Head No. 3 counterpart to tell the complete Wapakoneta story.
Wapak No. 3 Skillet — Indian Head Mark
Every Ohio foundry in the SSC collection marks its iron with text or geometry — an arc, a cartouche, a diamond. Wapak chose a face. The Indian Head medallion centered on this No. 3 base — a Native American figure in feathered headdress, cast in profile, surrounded by the company inscription — is the most visually distinctive mark in the Ohio foundry corpus. This No. 3 carries it in exceptional condition: headdress feather detail preserved, facial profile clear, inscription readable. It is the finest-condition marked piece in the SSC collection, the first Wapak entry, and the highest single-piece acquisition to date. Some iron earns its price