Wagner Ware Sidney -O- No. 8 Cast Iron Skillet
SSC MUSEUM COLLECTION
Catalog No. SSC-WGNR-SKL-008
Cast Iron Skillet | No. 8 | Catalog No. 1058 T | Smooth Bottom | Sidney, Ohio
c. 1935–1959 • Wagner Manufacturing Company • Sidney, Shelby County, Ohio
Interior cooking surface of the Wagner Ware Sidney -O- No. 8 skillet, showing the full 8⅞-inch cooking floor, scalloped pour spouts on the rim, and the size mark '8' at the handle junction. The deep even seasoning is consistent throughout — this is the standard against which all Wagner Ware Sidney -O- skillets are measured.
The No. 8 is Wagner Ware’s flagship size. It was the most produced skillet in the Sidney line, the size featured most prominently in Wagner’s advertising, the piece that appears in every antique market and thrift store in America, and the standard against which all other sizes in the line are measured. Every collector who pursues a complete set starts with the No. 8, because it is the easiest to find — and for the same reason, understanding what makes a particular No. 8 worth documenting requires looking past the size itself and into what that specific piece tells us about the production it came from.
This example, catalog number 1058 T, tells that story through its pattern letter. T is the twentieth letter of the alphabet. By the time this No. 8 was cast, at least nineteen previous sand mold patterns for the No. 8 size had been produced, used until they were worn, and replaced. No other size in the Wagner Ware Sidney -O- skillet line accumulated pattern letters into the alphabet at this rate. The T is not a date code. It is a production volume document. It records, in a single letter, the extraordinary scale at which Wagner manufactured its most popular size.
The piece is a smooth-bottom No. 8, placing it in the c. 1935–1959 production window. It presents in excellent condition with deep even seasoning throughout, a clean flat cooking surface, and all markings fully legible. The seller noted it sits flat, confirmed by the profile photographs. No MADE IN USA marking is present, confirming pre-1959 collector-era manufacture.
Pattern Letter T: Reading Production Volume in a Single Letter
Base of the No. 8 skillet showing the stylized Wagner Ware Sidney -O- logo at 12 o'clock and catalog number 1058 T at 6 o'clock. The smooth base — no heat ring — confirms c. 1935–1959 production. Pattern letter T, the twentieth letter of the alphabet, documents the exceptional production volume of the No. 8 in the Wagner line.
Wagner’s catalog numbering system, adopted in 1924, assigned a four-digit number to each hollow ware product — for regular skillets, 1050 plus the size number. The letter following the number identifies the specific sand mold pattern used to cast the piece. A sand mold pattern is the master form from which individual sand molds are made for each pour. Over time, patterns wear — the casting marks become shallower, the surface texture changes — and eventually the pattern must be recut or replaced. When a new pattern was produced for the same size, it received the next letter in the sequence.
For the No. 8, that sequence reached T during the smooth-bottom era. For reference, the No. 11 in the SSC collection carries pattern letter A — its first pattern. The No. 9 carries pattern letter D — its fourth. The No. 8 with pattern letter T has had at least nineteen predecessors. This is not because the No. 8 pattern wore out faster per casting than other sizes — it is because the No. 8 was cast in far greater numbers than any other size, in continuous production from the foundry’s earliest years through the close of the Sidney collector era. The pattern wore out and was replaced, again and again, because demand never stopped.
Pattern letters are not a quality ranking, and T is not better or worse than A. Both are patterns that produced correct, well-cast skillets. What T tells a researcher is that when this piece was made, the Sidney foundry had already worn through nineteen No. 8 patterns and was working from its twentieth. That is a production history encoded in a single letter, and it belongs in the collection record.
The No. 8 Skillet: The Standard
Profile view of the No. 8 showing the 2-inch sidewalls, the broad cooking floor, and the clean overall form. The smooth base is evident — no heat ring ledge visible at the base perimeter. The deep even seasoning extends across the exterior sidewall throughout.
At 10⅝ inches across the top rim and 8⅞ inches at the cooking floor, the No. 8 is the size that defined American cast iron cooking for generations. It fits on a standard stove eye, it handles a full pound of bacon or four eggs simultaneously, it holds a braised chicken thigh or a cornbread batter or a pan of gravy without difficulty. It is large enough to be genuinely useful and compact enough to be manageable with one hand. Wagner’s advertising frequently led with the No. 8, and the Sidney -O- mark made it recognizable as a quality product in stores across America and Europe.
The smooth-bottom No. 8 represents the final chapter of the Sidney collector era for this size. The heat-ring No. 8, produced from the foundry’s earliest days through approximately 1935, is the older configuration. The smooth-bottom version followed, as gas and electric ranges with flat cooking surfaces replaced wood and coal stoves in American homes and the raised heat ring became unnecessary. Both configurations are collectible; the smooth-bottom version is somewhat more common in the market because it was produced for a longer continuous window in the later production era.
The No. 8 is also the size most often associated with the Pie Logo — the most collectible single logo variant in the Wagner line, in which the stylized W was enclosed in a wedge-shaped border with CAST IRON SKILLET arching at the 6 o’clock position. The Pie Logo No. 8 was produced for approximately a ten-year window around 1930–1940 and is among the most sought-after individual pieces in vintage Wagner collecting. The present SSC No. 8 carries the standard stylized logo without the pie border, placing it in the post-pie-logo smooth-bottom era.
Markings Analysis
Bottom profile of the No. 8 confirming the smooth base — no heat ring present. The 2-inch sidewall depth is visible here. The deep consistent seasoning covers the exterior sidewall throughout.
The stylized Wagner Ware Sidney -O- logo sits at the standard 12 o’clock position — the fixed placement established after the logo’s early years of varying position and maintained from approximately 1924 through the end of the collector era in 1959. Catalog number 1058 T appears at the 6 o’clock position. The base is smooth with no heat ring, confirming c. 1935–1959 production. No MADE IN USA marking is present, confirming pre-1959 manufacture.
The size mark ‘8’ is incised on the handle top near the junction with the pan body — clearly legible in the handle detail photograph. All three marking elements — logo, catalog number, size mark — are fully legible and confirm the piece’s identity and dating without ambiguity.
Handle
Handle detail of the No. 8. The size mark '8' is clearly incised on the handle top near the junction with the pan body. The Wagner teardrop hanging loop at the terminus is intact and well-formed, showing the characteristic open-eye design used across the Sidney -O- skillet line. The deep consistent seasoning is visible throughout the handle.
The main handle bears the incised size mark ‘8’ and terminates in Wagner’s classic teardrop hanging loop — the open-eye form characteristic of the Sidney -O- skillet line across all logo eras. The handle is intact with no cracks or losses and shows the consistent deep seasoning present throughout the piece. The teardrop loop is cleanly formed and fully intact.
Piece Details
Manufacturer
Wagner Manufacturing Company, Sidney, Ohio
Piece Type
Cast Iron Skillet
Form
Standard skillet with main handle, smooth base, scalloped pour spouts. No assist handle — correct for No. 8.
Material
Cast Iron
Markings
Stylized Wagner Ware Sidney -O- logo (looped W) at 12 o'clock; catalog no. 1058 T at 6 o'clock; '8' incised on handle top near junction
Catalog Number
1058 T — pattern letter T is the 20th letter of the alphabet, documenting at least 19 prior pattern cuts for the No. 8 — direct evidence of the extraordinary production volume of this size
Logo Position
12 o'clock — standard high position, consistent with post-1924 production
Size
No. 8 — Top diameter: 10 5/8 in. | Bottom diameter: 8 7/8 in. | Depth: 2 in.
Heat Ring
None — smooth bottom. Confirms c. 1935–1959 production.
Made in USA Mark
Absent — confirms pre-1959 collector-era production
Logo Era
Stylized Wagner Ware Sidney -O- — Smooth Bottom, Catalog Number (c. 1935–1959)
Date of Manufacture
c. 1935–1959
Place of Manufacture
Sidney, Shelby County, Ohio
Condition
Excellent — deep even seasoning throughout; cooking surface clean and flat; no cracks, no repairs; all markings legible; sits flat
Acquisition Date
October 10, 2025
Acquisition Source
eBay — Seller: marysgoround1234
eBay Item Number
376573443435
Order Number
23-13668-26761
SSC Catalog Number
SSC-WGNR-SKL-008
Collection Designation
Wagner Ware Sidney -O- Complete Skillet Set — No. 0 through No. 14
Corporate Timeline: Wagner Manufacturing Company
1891
Wagner Manufacturing Company founded in Sidney, Shelby County, Ohio. Opens with 20 employees; within three months melts 9,200 lbs of iron daily. The No. 8 is among the first sizes in production.
1892
Nickel-plated hollow ware introduced.
1894
Wagner becomes one of the first American companies to manufacture cast aluminum cookware.
c. 1914
'Wagner Ware' branding introduced on hollow ware.
c. 1922
Stylized 'W' logo introduced. The No. 8 is Wagner's flagship size and is prominently featured in advertising of this era.
1924
Four-digit catalog numbering system adopted. No. 8 = catalog no. 1058. The No. 8 will produce the most pattern letters of any size in the line, reaching at least T by the end of the collector era.
c. 1930–35
Smooth-bottom construction introduced for sizes 4–12. The smooth-bottom No. 8 (this piece) dates from c. 1935–1959.
c. 1930–40
Pie Logo variant produced. The No. 8 pie logo skillet is among the most sought-after Wagner collector pieces.
1934
Magnalite cast aluminum line introduced. Wagner's product range expands beyond cast iron.
1946–52
Wagner family divests. Company sold to Randall Company of Cincinnati, Ohio.
1957
Randall Wagner division acquires Griswold Manufacturing from McGraw-Edison.
1959
Textron acquires Randall. SIDNEY -O- removed from logo. Last year of collector-era production. Final smooth-bottom No. 8 pieces with Sidney -O- marking produced this year.
1969
Textron sells Wagner and Griswold lines to General Housewares Corporation (GHC).
1999
Sidney foundry closes permanently after 108 years of production.
2022–23
Wagner Cast Iron relaunches with Wagner family guidance. Reissue program begins with the Long Griddle. Former Sidney foundry building demolished June 2023.
Why This Piece Matters
The Wagner Ware Sidney -O- No. 8 matters in a complete set because no set is complete without it. It is the center of gravity of the Wagner line — the size from which everything else is scaled, the size that defined the brand’s identity for the public, the size that Wagner itself led with in its advertising and its awards presentations. A collection that has the rare No. 13 and No. 14 but lacks a No. 8 is missing its axis.
This particular No. 8 matters because pattern letter T is a production document that no other size in the SSC collection carries at this depth. Where the No. 12 with its center logo speaks to the opening of the stylized W era, and the No. 11 with its pattern letter A speaks to the beginning of a size’s production history, the No. 8 with pattern letter T speaks to something different: the scale and duration of continuous high-volume production that wore through nineteen sand mold patterns before producing this one. That scale was unprecedented in American cast iron hollow ware, and it is legible in a single letter on the base of this pan.
It matters because it is in excellent condition — deep seasoning, flat base, legible markings, no structural compromise. After approximately ninety years, a No. 8 in this condition is a pan that did everything right and was taken care of. The iron held. The cooking surface is as usable as the day it left Sidney.
The iron endures. The markings tell the truth. The story deserves to be told.
Sources & Further Reading
Physical examination of piece: stylized Wagner Ware Sidney -O- logo at 12 o'clock; catalog no. 1058 T at 6 o'clock; size mark '8' on handle top; smooth base confirmed (no heat ring); no MADE IN USA marking; sits flat. Five seller photographs examined prior to acquisition.
The Cast Iron Collector (castironcollector.com) — Evolution of the Wagner Trademark; Numbers & Letters; Wagner Manufacturing Co. page. Primary reference for smooth-bottom transition dating, catalog number system, pattern letter explanation, and Pie Logo documentation.
Wagner Cast Iron (wagnercastiron.com/pages/story) — Official Wagner family history. Foundry founding, innovations, advertising history, corporate ownership chain, foundry demolition 2023.
Wagner Cast Iron FAQ (wagnercastiron.com/pages/faq) — Catalog number formula: 1050 + size = catalog number for regular skillets.
Panman.com — Cast Iron Size and Capacity Charts (David G. Smith). No. 8 standard dimensions: top diameter 10 5/8 in., bottom 8 7/8 in., depth 2 in.
Cast Iron Collector Forums (castironcollector.com/forum) — Wagner Ware collecting thread; Smooth Bottom 1935–1959 questions thread. No. 8 smooth-bottom production confirmed for c. 1935–1959 window; pattern letter progression discussed.
The Book of Griswold & Wagner (Wallaces-Homestead / Krause Publications) — Standard collector reference volume.
eBay acquisition record — Order No. 23-13668-26761, seller: marysgoround1234, October 10, 2025. Item: Vintage Wagner Ware Sidney -O- 1058 T #8 Cast Iron Skillet Sits Flat.
SSC Internal Collection Records — Wagner Ware Sidney -O- Complete Skillet Set documentation. SSC-WGNR-SKL-008 is the No. 8 representative in the full-run No. 0 through No. 14 display set; pattern letter T documents the extraordinary production volume of this size.
About Steve’s Seasoned Classics
Steve’s Seasoned Classics is an online museum dedicated to preserving and documenting the heritage of American cast iron, with a focus on Ohio foundry pieces from the 19th and early 20th centuries. The SSC collection features over 130 pieces with detailed provenance, historical research, and photography for each item.
