Unmarked Wagner Questions

Colin Campbell

New member
A couple of questions concerning the more commonly seen unmarked Wagner skillets with the dimensions spelled out across a smooth bottom.

1.) What years were these produced?

2.) Were any made with a nickel finish?

Thanks in advance!
 
Here is the link in our CIC resources that gives a little insight about your question. Unfortunately it does not give specific dates but only references to pre and post 1960's. I doubt that there were any pieces nickel plated for the smooth bottom skillets you are talking about. Nickel plating was a marketing ploy that was intended to grab the eye of women that wanted a sparkling/shinny kitchen to brag about (IMO) and didn't last all that long per what I have done research on. Sorry I can't be more specific.
http://www.castironcollector.com/unmarked.php
 
Thank you for your reply! Here are some photos of the skillet in question:


I've seen photos of a similar one, though it was a Sidney -O- the owner believed was nickel plated. Just want to make sure before attempt to clean it with Easy Off that I don't strip it off.
Thanks!
 
Thanks! I guess what's got me puzzled, if it is just the iron with no plating, the lack of any rust. I've got a Wagner cornbread skillet that's not shiny like this. Resembles more the photo of the underside of the handle. But not the black seasoning look. I guess Wagners coated their pans with some other rust prohibiting coating until the buyer seasoned it themselves.
 
I have a marked Wagner Ware #5 that is plated. Its kinda like 50/50 now, but its plated.
 
I guess maybe the info I'm looking for isn't really known. I've read what seems to be conflicting information such as Wagner stopped plating around 1930 but unmarked Wagners weren't made until the 1960's and later. If my skillet is plated, would they have applied the brushed metal look to it? Could it not be cast iron, but possibly stainless steel? Did Wagner do that?
 
It's cast iron and is not plated. Wagner had stopped plating by the early 1940s. Wagner produced unmarked goods prior to the 1960s, smooth bottom Wagner skillets having been in production since the mid-1930s. This pan's later style handle and "MADE IN USA" place it mid-1960s or later. What combination of factors that make it appear both used but not blackened are uncertain, but clean, bare CI is grey in color. It may or may not have had some kind of factory pre-seasoning such as that of marked Wagners starting back in the early 1940s. It does not appear that early factory pre-seasoning methods also had an artificial black color like that of modern Lodge Logic. The brushed look on the handle top is an artifact of manual post-casting finishing processes and is not intentional; there may have been a burr on this one that required removal.
 
Evidently there was some form of (anti-rust?) coating on the skillet. Whether it was intended to be cooked with or removed and then seasoned, I don't know. After cleaning with Easy Off and a quick soak in vinegar and water, it looked more like you would expect a bare iron skillet to look. It seasoned up very nice and shiny with a dark brownish black patina.
 
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