Four Novelty Spoons - 3 sterling and one silver plate

Apparently, the person who spoons were donated was from Michigan, as three of the novelty spoons, he/she collected are from there. They are marked sterling on the reverse. The cute little one is a silver plated spoon from Holland.

The Field Colombian Museum one is the largest and the most ornate. I think it must be a souvenir, but from when? Does anyone want to hazard a guess. The simplest one is the most worn and I think the oldest. I'm looking for any thoughts.

 

All three of the sterling ones I'd hazard a guess are from the 40s or earlier (they tend not to write sterling longhand much after that point). As for exact ages, your guess is as good as mine.

 

Excellent observation I didn’t know that. Thank you.

 

The three sterling are all souvenir spoons, the Watson/Mechanics with the Field Museum and Fort Dearborn bowl is probably the oldest, mid 1890s at the earliest, but could have been produced a bit later. The other two are more typical of early 20th century souvenir spoons - pretty sure I have an ad showing the U of M spoon, give me a bit and I'll dig it up. The Dutch 'Breck's' collector spoon most likely dates to the mid 20th century...

~Cheryl

 

Sorry, bit confused - not seeing any longhand marks, but if you're referring to the 'STERLING' marks, not at all true that they wouldn't be marked the same way after the '40s, even brand new American sterling silverware is typically marked the same...

~Cheryl

 

1906 advertisement (looks like yours might have originally had 'ruby' set eyes too):




~Cheryl

 

I would have never guessed, as the Fields spoon looks like it is just out of the box with respect to wear. But I suppose that would be true of souvenir spoons - not intended for use. It is so complex covered from top to bottom with art. I'm excited it possibly so old. I hope you find that ad for the U of M one. The little spoon is what took my notice first, as it is delightful. I'm pleased it has some age to it.

 

Good to know. I have mostly newer jewelry and you are right, many have the sterling written out.

 

How do you do this!! I am astonished that you remembered an old ad from 1906, and knew where to find it. Thanks for tracking this down. Your right, there is a place in the eyes for stones. I'm not sure about the gilt part, as there is no evidence, but in the last 100 years or so it may have faded away.

 

It may not have been gilt, would have been an option available to the retailers from the manufacturer. By the early 20th century, the souvenir spoon 'craze' was cooling a bit, many of the designs simplified - those little enamel plaques were produced for all sorts of stuff, and your spoon was sold with various school emblems.

Souvenir spoons often differed from regular spoon manufacture in that the bowls and stems could be die-struck separately, then soldered together in various combinations - I've seen that Fort Dearborn bowl on a number of different spoons. I've collected Chicago spoons for a long time, usually Columbian Exposition souvenirs - I have a book on the fair spoons, may be around here somewhere, can't recall if yours is included, but suspect not, Watson's Mechanics division should date a bit later than 1893, around 1896, and the 'Field Columbian Museum' didn't open until 1894.

Believe the Breck's spoons were a premium or giveaway from the bulb company, but not much of an area of interest for me, so my memory may be faulty...

~Cheryl

 

That explains why there doesn't seem to be even the faint gilt anywhere. I can see clearly where the Field Museum spoon attaches now that you point it out.
Very clever of them to create a spoon with educational symbols and put different enamel pieces and bowls for the various universities and colleges. I will have to look at my other souvenir spoons to see if this is true, though, these are the first sterling souvenir spoons I have found.

I found the brecks spoon on the internet pretty quickly, and just threw it in because I didn't see a back story anywhere. I have several souvenir spoons that were made in Holland. Not interesting enough as vintage or antique objects to show here, though. Thank you so much for your detailed explanations. It is so helpful to me in trying to find better pieces, and it enhances my enjoyment of these spoons, especially, when I polish them.

 

There are still lots of collectors of souvenir spoons, including me! I have a large collection and love all of them. I can just imagine how people would buy them back in the day to remember an even or place they visited.

 

It's wonderful to hear your joy. Thank you.

 

Really? Nice to know! I haven't been seeing any new stuff marked with long hand sterling, so I guess I have haven't been handling the right stuff!

 

Again, not sure why you're referring to "longhand" or "long hand" - personally, the only longhand 'Sterling' marks I can recall seeing have been done with an electric engraver on handcrafted items. Most American silverware is still marked as 'Sterling', though not written, but rather stamped or cut in the die. To state that "from the 40s or earlier (they tend not to write sterling longhand much after that point)" doesn't even make sense, and is factually incorrect - simply looking at post 1940s produced American flatware, hollowware, giftware, and probably even the majority of jewelry will show them bearing a 'Sterling' mark...

~Cheryl



Definition of 'longhand':

 

Yes yes, I know this part.
1. I was admitting I was wrong
2. When you see the whole word written out instead of 925, Ster, or British hallmarks primarily , wouldn't a full written Sterling technically be "longhand"?

 

I knew what you meant, but perhaps "script" would work. When I was in elementary school, anything written out in script was called longhand (cursive as above definition). Don't know why, since shorthand was what secretaries wrote. But the spoon's mark was molded in cursive, so longhand.

 

1. What I read was "Really?" So I answered your question and addressed your further statement that you hadn't been handling the "right stuff".

2. 'Longhand' by definition and common use indicates something handwritten in cursive, so the only way a mark would be in longhand is as suggested, if done if by hand in cursive writing.

My eyesight is not at all what it used to be, and I'm not trying to be a pain, but am curious and confused - where in this thread do you find "the spoon's mark was molded in cursive, so longhand"?


~Cheryl

 

Hah! You're right, but I could swear it was this thread that had the word Sterling on one of the spoons and the word was in cursive. That's why I didn't look all that closely. Ok, did someone sneak a photo away to make me sound crazy?