I love the kettles and especially utensils.
This is one of those areas where it is Wagner all the way (ok, at least most of the way). I have now a Sidney tea kettle, a Griswold colonial kettle, 3 wagner utensils, and a wagner coffee pot, and some generic antique aluminum skillets. The cool thing about utensils is that if you are diligent at the flea market and sort through hundreds of items, they go for $1 apiece. I'm always clanging around the utensil bins like some sort of deranged raccoon.
If you have been ignoring Wagner do check out their aluminum items -- they are beautiful and command decent prices. Unfortunately, for some odd reason my oval roaster sold for nothing, probably because I couldn't say "not griswold" in the title.
The one thing that stinks about Aluminum is that it is a real pain to clean. I tried the self cleaning oven, I tried boiling in cream of tarter. It only takes you so far. Also, the kettles tend to have calcium buildup which can be a pain. I'm almost opting not to remove it and let it testify to antiqueness. Both lye and electrolysis ravage aluminum. Electro starts to destroy aluminum in about 15 minutes. Turns it into mush.
If I get much more aluminum I might look into purchasing blasting equipment and walnut shells. Something to put on the list.
