Adamson Manufacturing Company — Cast Iron Tire Tube Vulcanizer
In the first decades of the automobile age, a flat tire was not an inconvenience — it was a certainty. This cast iron vulcanizer by the Adamson Manufacturing Company of East Palestine, Ohio, patented April 1913, allowed motorists and mechanics to permanently repair punctured inner tubes by heat-bonding raw rubber patches at the molecular level. Marked "ADAMSON MFG. CO. / PATENTED / APR 1913 / E. PALESTINE, O." Original patina preserved. Acquired from eBay seller funmoneyfromselling, March 2026.
The Peck-Williamson Co. — Cast Iron Furnace Damper Plate
A cast iron furnace damper plate from one of America's first central heating manufacturers. The Peck-Williamson Co. of Cincinnati pioneered the Underfeed coal furnace in the early 1900s. This plate carries full maker's identification with original chain — dating to the pre-1911 Peck-Williamson era.
Ober Manufacturing Company — Cast Iron Trivet / Sadiron Stand
A cast iron trivet from an 80-year Ohio village foundry. Ober Manufacturing Company of Chagrin Falls produced sadirons, trivets, and woodworking machinery from the 1870s onward. Marked "OBER / CHAGRIN FALLS • OHIO" — the founder's home now houses the local historical society.
The Taylor & Boggis Foundry Co. — No. 0 Hand Torch
A cast iron hand torch from Cleveland's oldest foundry. The Taylor & Boggis Foundry Co., founded 1864, produced this No. 0 Hand Torch with original cap and wick intact. Full maker's mark identifies Cleveland, Ohio — a signature piece for the Cleveland's Forgotten Foundries collection.
Newman Brothers Inc. — The Last Supper Cast Iron Relief Plaque
A cast iron Last Supper relief plaque from one of Ohio's oldest foundries. Newman Brothers Inc. of Cincinnati has been casting metal since 1882. This high-relief devotional plaque carries the "NEWMAN BROS INC" maker's mark and extends the SSC's documentation into Cincinnati's decorative metalwork tradition.
Oneta No. 9 Cast Iron Skillet
If you couldn't afford Wagner, you bought Wapak. If you couldn't afford Wapak, you bought Oneta. Made in Wapakoneta — the town between Sidney and Piqua, Neil Armstrong's hometown — this budget skillet is now harder to find than the premium brands it once undercut. The cheap things get used up. The survivors are scarce.
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.
Superior Foundry Inc. Miniature Cast Iron Melting Bowl
Superior Foundry of Cleveland was no minor operation — two of its executives served as president of the American Foundry Society. Yet today its products are described as "very difficult to find." This miniature melting bowl keeps the record.
Akron Brass Mfg. No. 10 Hydrant Spanner Wrench
The firefighter's Swiss Army knife. This 1925 No. 10 spanner wrench from Akron Brass in Wooster, Ohio opened hydrants, tightened hose couplings, and started a century-long legacy — from B.F. Goodrich employees to the company that rushed equipment to Ground Zero.
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.
Forest City Foundries Co. — Niagara Furnaces Mini Spider Skillet
A miniature cast iron spider skillet from The Forest City Foundries Co. of Cleveland, Ohio — an advertising salesman sample for the company's Niagara Furnaces brand. Named after Cleveland's own "Forest City" nickname, this stove and furnace manufacturer left behind these small iron ambassadors as evidence of work that the historical record has otherwise forgotten.
The Schill Brothers Co. Cast Iron Stove Emblem
A cast iron stove and furnace identification emblem from The Schill Brothers Co. of Crestline, Ohio — a documented manufacturer founded in 1892, referenced in the trade press through the early 1920s. The elongated oval form bears raised lettering reading "THE SCHILL BROTHERS CO / CRESTLINE, OHIO" with a single central mounting hole. SSC Catalog No. SSC-SCHILL-EMBLEM-c1900-001. The SSC collection's first piece from Crawford County.
Brand’s Famous Furnaces Cast Iron Nameplate
A rare c. 1880–1905 cast iron furnace nameplate bearing the trade mark of Brand's Famous Furnaces — "The Leading Brand" — in Gothic arch form with flame finial, chain-link ornament, and keyhole mounting slots. The manufacturer is undocumented in standard reference sources, making this piece both a physical artifact and an open research question. SSC Catalog No. SSC-BRAND-PLATE-c1890-001.
M. Hose & Lyon Cast Iron LadlePatented Smelting & Pouring Ladle — PAT'D AUG. 15, 1871
Some cast iron pieces carry a cookware pedigree. This one carries a patent date.
The M. Hose & Lyon smelting ladle — cast in Dayton, Ohio and patented August 15, 1871 — is a primary-source document of Ohio's mid-19th century industrial iron trade. Embossed in raised block capitals along the full length of its handle: M HOSE & LYON / DAYTON O / PAT'D AUG 15 / 1871. The mark is crisp. The iron is sound. The piece is 154 years old.
The patented design solved a real problem. Standard smelting ladles of the era had a single pour spout — to redirect the flow, the operator had to rotate the ladle over open flame with liquid metal in the bowl. The Hose & Lyon solution was three equidistant spouts cast around the bowl rim, so any one could be oriented toward the target without shifting the grip. It was practical, elegant, and worth the trip to the Patent Office.
Dayton in 1871 was already one of the most inventive cities in America — the foundry and machine shop culture of the Miami Valley was two generations deep before NCR and the Wright brothers made it famous. M. Hose & Lyon worked in that world. This ladle is what that world made.
The trade it served is gone. The tool is here.