Spoons With Dates - A thing?

Here are five spoons with dates. Some also have names, initials, etc. engraved into them. Did people buy plain spoons and have them engraved? Was this a custom or conceit of some kind? One of them looks like a souvenir spoon with Ann Arbor engraved in the bowl, but also has a date. Was this a remembrance of the date when they went?

Any ideas or comments appreciated.

 

The answer to your first question is YES! Need a gift ? - Christmas, birthday, anniversary, etc. Buy a pretty spoon you think the giftee would like and tell the jeweler what you want engraved on it. That first one was probably for a 50th wedding anniversary. The Ann Arbor one could be a combination souvenir and gift spoon - maybe a visit there, as you suggested. The ones with a name and a year, might be Christmas or birthday. My personal collection of flatware contains lots of souvenir and gift spoons.

 

Silver was more popular before then nowadays, that was good gift for people and still buying.[depend on price age and quality]

 

I missed that whole thing. I thought that brides put their monograms on the good silver, but not that it was something everyone was doing. Very interesting. Thank you very much.

 

Thank you. I thought that people just bought sets as weddings and perhaps the occasional souvenir. I figure modern folks don't have time for polishing, so I'm surprised that it is still going on.

 

Below is an old pic of my little pair of Gorham 'Nuremberg' demitasse spoons (a multi-motif figural pattern), with a large entwined monogram on the back of the bowls, would guess likely a wedding gift, and since the script initials above share only the last letter 'P' with the large monogram, suspect they were added for the next generation, on the fronts of the couple are tiny "Mar 28 1891" dates. They're packed away at the moment, but were actually a 'throw-in' with a nice plush-covered fitted case for 12, the seller thought they were ruined by the engraving, I loved them and still do decades later...




~Cheryl

 

Very beautiful couple. I liked.

 

Those are wonderful. A lot of thought and care went into the selection, and engraving. Great that the seller thought they were ruined, and that featureless, mass produced, characterless spoons are better than ones personalized to a loving couple. I love them two.

 

I agree. There is a bit of whimsy about them, as he is standing on a open flower and she is ready for work.

 

We can see the character of each, the details show their charm.

 

I'd say that they were birthday / newborn / baptism gifts for children. Y'know the old adage - 'born with a silver spoon in your mouth'? Well, might as well give young Master William and Mistress Annie silver spoons for their first birthdays, with their dates and names (or initials) engraved on them!

I have seen spoons embellished like this. I have a pair of silver teaspoons with '1913' engraved on them. God knows why, but there you are...

 

They don’t have money but my sister and her husband just had their first. I’ve been planning on gifting a set of baby silverware I have to the newborn. Was going to go to the local jeweler and have her name and the year engraved on the pieces. I didn’t realize it was typical for a first birthday rather than birth year. I’m not even sure my sister will like them or want them. I think it would be a neat gift though so I’ll probably go through with it.

 

I’ve got quite a few spoons and pieces of hollowware with years on them. I love the character it adds to a piece. I have a little creamer with a late 19th c date. Let’s say it’s 1895 and below that is engraved “Halloween”. I love that someone gave the gift of a silver creamer for Halloween. It’s one of my favorite pieces for some reason just because I get a kick out of it.

 

I'd suggest it seems unlikely that a pair of dainty demitasse (coffee) spoons depicting Renaissance adults were engraved with the same entwined monogram, even if twins - believe a wedding gift more likely...

Can't say I've heard that the first birthday would be the typical time to give a baby gift - children usually start being spoon-fed and sipping from cups prior to one year, with rattles and teethers also typically in use early on. Silver was and is a common Christening gift, with sets sometimes quite extensive (the French produced especially lovely Christening sets), they might include a feeding spoon, a food pusher, a small child's spoon, perhaps with matching fork and knife, a larger youth set for continued use as they grow, a cup or tumbler, a bowl, a napkin ring, an egg cup and egg spoon, etc. - there could be any number of combinations.

Personally, think silver would be a lovely gift for your niece, I've given it quite a few times and it seemed to be appreciated, I still have my baby spoon and fork, framed them in my teens and displayed for many years - and my brother was delighted when in his 50s, he found his baby cup at his paternal grandmother's home, he treasured it. If you decide on engraving, make sure everything is correct - my Mom dealt gracefully with my brother's belief that she'd misspelled his diminutive name 'Kenny' all his life since it was spelled 'Kenney' on the cup, he even started signing cards, etc. with the superfluous 'e'...

~Cheryl

 

Exactly! I figured even if it’s not necessarily super appreciated now it will be a really nice thing to have later on down the road. Can’t decide if I should go with the initials or first name which is only four letters, Evie. I’m thinking first name and year on reverse. I’ve seen some very nice christening sets. The French did love a good silver set of any type it seemed. I thought to include a cup but I can’t see them ever using it. I did just pick up a fantastic rattle yesterday in a job lot. There’s nothing really left inside to cause it to rattle. I took the handle out to see if I could deposit some little objects through the hole so it would rattle again. Turns out it’s basically a prison shiv when the handle is removed. Even if I glued it in well I’d be afraid the baby would blind itself someday with it. Oh well! Here’s the little set I’ll be giving them after a polishing and engraving.

 

When my mom was about 7 years old, someone (I suspect her Aunt on dad's side) started giving her a sterling spoon every year on her birthday, engraved with her first initial. She apparently stopped when she was 18. My mom split them between me and my sister. I gave my half to my sister because she has a daughter and I have only sons. I think the family silver should go to girls if at all possible.

Maybe to go in the hope chest? Dunno, but they are really nice and my sis uses them when serving coffee to guests. There are all kinds of reasons for initialing silver, and back then it was considered a must have with the "good" dishes and crystal.

 

@J Dagger I would be delighted with a gift like yours! It's so thoughtful. Yes, go with Evie and the year on the back, that's a great idea. She will love it later in life if not now. You don't necessarily have to use this stuff, it's for the memories later.

The rattle is cool but I don't usually give babies a weapon like that to beat on the head of whoever is holding her, lol!

 

Just a quick question, please:

Are you sure that's a rattle and not a sterling-handled darning egg? It looks like the latter to me.

How big is it?

 

That's what I thought too until the OP said it was a rattle. Yeah, that would give you a black eye when wielded by a baby, LOL!

 

Well now that you mention I’m absolutely sure it IS a darning egg and NOT a rattle. That would explain why it doesn’t rattle I guess and why as y’all mentioned it’s basically a small war club in the hands of a baby. Had never even heard of a darning egg and still don’t know what it does. I had baby silver on the mind already. I guess I was just guided where I wanted to go already.