This was enough to pique my interest. Within the pile of junky forks, spoons and knives, I noticed a batch of spoons that were tinted with the silver hue. I dug around and found ten beautiful tarnished silverplated spoons and happily paid a dollar for my loot.
These two sugar spoons are my favourite. I just love the shape and design of the spoons!
I always enjoy a good mystery, so when I went home, I googled the markings on the back of each spoon and got some interesting information. One of the spoons had a picture of a young girl and the name "Marie" etched down the length of the spoon.
It turns out that Marie is from a set of five collectible spoons that were promotional items from the Palmolive Soap company in the 1930s! in 1934 in Ontario, Canada, five identical quintuplet girls were born and survived. They became a media sensation, and were exploited for commercial purposes. It is a sad Canadian story that has been well documented. Customers would send in "soap bands" as proof of purchase, and 10 cents in exchange for a commemorative spoon. It's funny that I paid the same price for the spoon some 75 years later!
My finds also included four spoons of the same pattern. From the markings and some helpful guides on the internet, I discovered that the spoons were produced by Wm. A. Rogers in 1936. The pattern is called Meadowbrook.
The spoons aren't worth all that much considering that they are silverplated, but I really enjoyed sleuthing to find out some history about the spoons. I plan to try some ways of removing the tarnish and seeing how the spoons turn out, just for fun.
I think the spoons would look great tied individually as a gift tag with a nice ribbon on top of a wrapped present. Is that a bit too strange?
Ooooh! A spoon from the Dionne quintuplets! How interesting.
ReplyDeleteIt is indeed a sad story.
Thanks for becoming my 92th follower! :)
I have seen a few projects done with old spoons.
ReplyDeleteI once bought an ornie for the tree that is a spoon. They drilled a hole in one side and glued vintage paper and other fun stuff in the spoon part and added a string and boom ORNIE!
Also saw them being used in the garden.
I am now gonna be looking in the silverware bin when i go thrifting. i would love to find one as yummy as the girl one.
They're beautiful and a steal at 10 cents each!
ReplyDeleteMy daughter-in-law makes beautiful mobiles out of vintage silverware (bends them, adds crystals and beads, etc.) so is always scouting for silver; it's pretty hard to find!
ReplyDelete