In the summer of 1863, while the Civil War burned across the country, a foundry in Zanesville, Ohio, poured iron into a mold and cast a name into the bottom of a tea kettle.
That kettle is here. The casting date is still legible. The iron is still sound.
Steve’s Seasoned Classics is a private collection of more than 130 pieces of Ohio cast iron made by foundries that no longer exist — firms that cast their names into iron between the 1840s and 1905 and then disappeared into bankruptcy, consolidation, or simple time.
This museum exists so their stories don’t.
WHAT THIS IS
A Museum. Not a Database.
SSC is not a cast iron reference guide. It is not a collector database. It is not a scholarly archive.
It is a place to encounter remarkable objects — to see what Ohio made, who made it, and what happened to the people and the foundries behind the iron.
You don’t need to be a collector to be here.
THE COLLECTION
What’s Here
The Crown Jewel — A Shinnick Hattan & Co. No. 9 tea kettle, cast in Zanesville, Ohio. Dated June 23, 1863. The oldest datable piece in the collection and the object at the center of SSC’s original patent research.
The Centerpiece — A complete production run of Wagner Ware Sidney-O skillets, No. 0 through No. 14. Every size the Sidney foundry produced, gathered piece by piece from across the country.
The Rarity — A Martin cast iron No. 14 skillet with the hamburger logo. One of the most sought-after pieces in American cast iron.
The Industrial Record — A Dayton Malleable Iron Co. smelting ladle, still carrying its original foundry slag in the pour cup, exactly as it left the foundry floor in 1871.
The Obscure — Greer & King of Dayton. Yourtee, Hollister & Co. of Cincinnati. Ahrens & Arnold. Adams & Britt. Makers whose names appear nowhere in standard collector guides — but whose iron survives, and whose stories are documented here for the first time.
EXPLORE
What You’ll Find
The Collection — 130+ pieces from 50+ Ohio makers, each with its own page: who made it, where, when, and what the historical record shows.
The Ohio Foundry Directory — A geographic index of Ohio’s cast iron makers organized by city and region. Public release October 2026.
The Library — Identification guides, dating references, and preservation resources. Free to use.
The Iron Pot Kitchen — Heritage recipes cooked in cast iron. Cornbread, fried chicken, pot roast, and more — the food these pans were made for.
Restoration — Professional conservation services for privately owned cast iron, following the same preservation-first doctrine applied to the SSC collection.
The Books — Two titles forthcoming October 2026 from Steve’s Seasoned Classics Press: The Kettle and the War and The Road from Nellinghof. Both free as public-domain PDFs.
START HERE
Find Your Way In
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Dedicated to the memory of Henry J. and Cecilia Brandewei Thaman.
Land of the Cross-Tipped Churches. Mercer, Auglaize, and Shelby Counties, Ohio.
The iron endures. The markings tell the truth. The story deserves to be told.
© 2026 Steve Thaman / Steve’s Seasoned Classics. All rights reserved.