Saw this sad little piece today

I wasn't looking for one. I was looking for a #8 Griswold skillet. I'm new to collecting and knew nothing about waffle irons. I left the store empty handed but it looked sad I couldn't get it out of my head. Several hours later, I went back for it on a heroic mission to rescue this thing.
A closer look revealed it was indeed a Wagner though I couldn't read anything on it. I got it home and studied it thinking it may be one of Wagner's earliest waffle irons.

It cleaned up pretty good. It's eroded where the "2" would be for the date, July 26, 1892. The handles need to be replaced. But I got a complete and very early Wagner waffle iron for $21!

I'll post some after pics when I've got it seasoned a bit.

After the first seasoning (it's hard to keep the coat thin on the cooking surface):

Those "The Wagner" 8 & 9 are the oldest of Wagner waffle irons, ca. 1900, worth easily 5+ times what you paid (if in excellent condition). A natural bristle paint brush works well to season the insides, with a terry towel to remove the excess.

Great find! :icon_thumbsup:

Yes, Lara ... great find! I've been looking for something like that for months. Cheapest I've seen was $95 and it was not as good as yours, in spite of the handles.

Hey LaraG,

Nice find! I've found myself doing the same thing, on several occasions I've left the store and hours or a day later returning to pick up the same piece. Kathy (my wife) now tells me to go ahead and get it, so we don't drive back later or the next day. I think I've got it bad!

Thank you all for the compliments! I've learned so much just lurking the forums.

I have one question. I have a guy who is going to turn some new handles. Would you keep the old handles tucked away somewhere or just toss them? They're useless but they're the originals.

I would toss the old handles since they are so bad but be sure to keep the metal ferrules and reuse them; hopefully you can.