Question about a WagnerWare skillet I picked up at a local junk shop

D

DougSahady

New member
Hi All, I appreciate the help I’ve received on this forum in years past, I’m not a collector, but I appreciate and like to use vintage cast iron pans for a lot of my cooking, so I pick one up every now and then when one presents itself. The other day my wife was at a local junk shop and noticed a really crusty WagnerWare Sidney O #5 skillet on one of the shelves. She bought it for me for $13. It cleaned up really nice. I know from what I read that this trademark was used from the 1920s to 1950s. The skillet also has the 1055 pattern number with a letter B. When I cleaned the skillet I found another very small letter B and what appears to maybe be a peen mark next to it on the bottom of the handle. See pic below. This is something that I hadn’t noticed before. Is it common, or could it help maybe narrow the date of manufacture a little? I’m just curious because I’m a history buff and enjoy knowing the approximate date something was made and 1920s through 50s is a little broad. Thanks as always for any feedback.
 

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I should have said above, that my only comparisons are with my two other WagnerWare skillets. One is a #3 with no pattern number just a #3 and the letter C (which is 1920s vintage from the info provided here). The other is a 5 Star Skillet set which is 1940s vintage (again from the helpful info provided to me here). Neither of these have the letter or peen mark on the handle.

Oh and instead of junk shop, I should have said “fleatique” :) I was trying to add some full pics as requested inanother post, but they are too large in size.
 
It could either indicate the necessity for more patterns than A-Z. Since you don't see Wagner pans with multiple letters after/below the catalog number, it would be a way to differentiate more than one "B" pattern. Or it could be a gang mold identifier. Patterns for smaller, popular pieces were sometimes arranged in multiples on the same match plate so two or more could be cast simultaneously.

The font of your pan's catalog number and letter tend to indicate it was made later in the smooth bottom/stylized logo time frame.

Related: https://www.castironcollector.com/trademarks.php#wagner
 
Thanks so much once again for the helpful and educational response. I really appreciate it. So By later time frame, does that likely mean 1950s?
 
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