Here I continue to look at how utilitarian teaspoons turned into souvenirs that we hang on a wall!

As mentioned in my previous post, both teaspoons and tablespoons existed by 1704. Still, because tea was a precious commodity in the West, both teacup and teaspoon were very small.

However, around 1710, the East India Company began their tea trade with China and the cost of tea started to decline. As tea grew more affordable, teaspoon size increased and by the 1730s, a teaspoon was 1/3 of a tablespoon. (Incidentally, that size has persisted in the U.S. as a unit of culinary measure.)

Now that tea was attainable by more people, the upper classes found additional ways to distinguish themselves from those in lower economic tiers. Yes, everyone might have tea, but tea accouterments and tea etiquette rules abounded.

The Victorian age (1837–1901) emphasized “gentility” and “refinement.”

Because gentility could be cultivated, it was a quality accessible to all, not just those born into noble status. Evaluation of personal conduct thus provided justification for enforcing social hierarchies. (Voss 2019:27)

Lower-income people, who had to work to survive, obviously had little time or disposable income to cultivate the right kind of “gentility” and, therefore, often retained their inferior status in the eyes of the elite. Some did, however, try where and however they could. When wealthy Victorians dined on matched white tableware featuring specific motifs, the industrial revolution (which began around 1760) enabled the production of inexpensive ceramics, which allowed the lower social classes to emulate the wealthier if they so chose (Voss 2019:28).

And, as you’d expect during an age when appearance was paramount, there were rules involving teaspoons.

Of course teaspoons clearly served a utilitarian purpose. As I mentioned in my previous post, sugar was added via a sugar spoon; the tea was then stirred with a tea-spoon.

But they also held symbolic meaning, indicating social status, that “gentility” so prized at this time.

Early Victorians put their teaspoons in a dedicated spoon holder or a spooner, displaying both their spoons, which were generally sterling silver, and their status.

These slightly flared holders often had a base; they were more narrow and cylindrical than sugar bowl bottoms or open sugar bowls, were shorter than celery vases, and were wider and taller than tumblers.

(My photo shows vintage glassware but I’m guessing as to their function. Still, they do hold teaspoons quite well.)

In his Manual of Social and Business Forms of 1888, Thomas Hill advises that tea be “gently sipped from the spoon or cup, taking cup and spoon in hand . . . when drinking,” and he illustrates his recommended hand and finger position.

Mr. Hill also cautions that “the spoon should never be removed from the cup when the guest is satisfied with its contents” because a spoon placed next to a still-filled cup signifies discontentment with the drink.

In I. L. Houser’s 1890 book about tea, a Mr. Buckle is described as a “most fastidious tea drinker. He . . . insisted that the cups and even the spoons should be warmed” (p. 23).

Besides prescribed tea-time manners, the mid-1800s also brought about leisure tourism in Europe—inaugurating the era of silver commemorative and souvenir spoons. Traveling Europeans and Americans eagerly collected these engraved mementos of places visited. Reminders of their journeys, yes, but also a proclamation of their status and ability to make such journeys.

The fad soon came to the U.S.

Here, we did have precursors in the form of so-called liberty spoons that were made during the American Revolution and which featured symbols of resistance (Allen 2023). However, the first officially-a-souvenir spoon was made by Galt & Bros, Washington, D.C., silversmiths.

Fittingly, the spoon had George Washington’s profile; the next spoon released featured Martha. Patriotic motifs continued to be popular even into the twentieth century, as attested by this vintage silver-plated president set.

This craze for souvenir spoons grew exponentially, as I’ll go into in my next post. Plus a look at why spoons?

Sources:
–Allen, T., “The origins of the spoon,” Oddly Historic, March 12, 2023.
–Hauser, I. L., Tea: Its Origin, Cultivation, Manufacture and Use, Rand, McNally & Company, Chicago, 1890.
–Hill, T. E., Hill’s Manual of Social and Business Forms, Hill Standard Book Company, Chicago, 1888.
–PBS, “History of souvenir spoons,” accessed 2/2/24.
–Voss, B. L., “The archaeology of serious games: Play and pragmatism in Victorian-era dining,” American Antiquity 84(1):26–47. 2019.