Collecting souvenir spoons has been a popular hobby for many Americans since
the late 1800s when this European fad swept the nation.
Souvenir spoons grew out of the birth of leisure tourism in Europe around the
mid 1800s. Wealthy Americans on a Grand Tour of Europe brought home these
souvenirs marked with the names of cities and some of the famous landmarks
they had seen.
The first souvenir spoons produced in the United States were products of
well-traveled silversmiths. The inaugural souvenir spoon was produced in
1889 by Galt & Bros of Washington D.C. It featured a profile of
George Washington and was created to mark the 100th anniversary of his
presidency. It was shortly followed by the Martha Washington spoon.
A year or so later the most famous collector’s spoon was designed, sparking
a national obsession that lasted until World War One. In 1890 jeweler
Seth F. Low visited Germany and purchased several unusual spoons. Upon
his return he designed the Salem Witch Spoon for his father’s company and
it was trademarked on January 13, 1891. Low described the design as featuring
"the raised figure of a witch, the word Salem, and the three witch pins of the
same size and shape as those preserved in the Court House at Salem”. Several
thousand were sold.
The interest in souvenir spoons suddenly exploded. At the end of 1890, there
were only a handful patented or in production in America. Around half a year later,
hundreds of souvenir spoon patterns were being produced to commemorate
American cities and towns, famous people, historical events and significant
events of the time.
In 1891 several books on collecting souvenir spoons were published and by the
time of the Chicago World Fair in 1893, what is now considered the Golden Age
of souvenir spoons had well and truly begun.
This grand world fair was also known as the Columbian Exposition, as it
commemorated the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the
New World. It lifted souvenir spoon collecting to a whole new level. At the time
this was a niche hobby. Along with 27 million visitors, the fair brought spoon
collecting national exposure. Some reports say more commemorative spoons
were produced for the Columbian Exposition than for any other event in history.
But the 1893 Expo was not the only factor in creating this spoon collecting
phenomenon. The 19th century was a time of immense growth in the United States'
economy. It was the age of industrialization with the rapid acceleration of
technology and the invention of mass production techniques. The production of
souvenir spoons became more efficient and the volume of goods increased.
Further, the collapse of the silver market also in 1893 meant silver became
affordable to many ordinary Americans for the first time, whilst retaining its
image of being for the privileged and wealthy.
Over the next 30 years every expo, fair and event was an opportunity to
create a souvenir spoon. But the mania was short-lived, by the advent of
World War One the appetite for souvenir spoons had waned and by the end
of the war it had almost disappeared.
Today it is once again a niche hobby. Embellished spoons at tourist
attractions are a familiar sight and hundreds of spoons change hands at
auctions around the world.
Text source is PBS. Link here.
Link here to see more intricate designed spoons from various time periods.
