The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1875-01-02
Mlistellaneous.


II was but little before the American i
Revelation fabout 1850 that silver table
spoons began to exclude those Of wood,
horn, and pewter. from tho tables Of the
quality III England, and even teaspoons
Of silver are said TO have been rare before
the time Of Queen Anne (l69l to l7I3.) |
To this day, if l am rightly informed, no |
Spoons Of solid silver, large or small, much |
less silver forks, are to be found in COM
mon use among the ''plain people" with
nee exceptions) Of any European country.
In the United States, on the contrary, il
is unnecessary to inform the American
readers Of Scribner that, as rule, the
farmer is but ihriNless and the mechanic
but a journeymsn, whose spoons and per-
haps forks are not Of solid silver. The
journcyman furnishes his table with plated
articles Of this class, or at worst britannia
and emily the rude day-labOrer contents
himself with timed or pewter ware.
Plated tea-seryices, salyers, pitchers, ladies',
cake and fruit-baskets, etc. are too common
to be noticed, unless wanting, on the
tables Of those in easy circumstances, and
it is no rare distinction If they are Of
solid silver. In fact for bridal gifts moth
ing less than solid silver is though respec-
table, aud IN this way, so universal has
the custom Of bridal gifts become hardly
any comfortable young couple now begin
housekeeping without fair show Of gen
uine table silver, as far at least as spoons,
forks, butter, fruit, pie and fsh-knives,
napkin-rings, and such triaes.
The beauty Of the ordinary American
table, with its snowy damask and china,
sparkling cut-glass, aud lustrous utensils
of silver, all disposed in the tasteful SYM
metFy native to the American housewife,
is power, and one that goes too near the
springs Of moral as well as @thetic culture
to be lightly esteemed by the most serious
observer. The development Of this crown
Ing Of domestic refinement is worthy Of
our attention. A critical journal has
remarked that an American lady's idea Of
dinner is handsome service Of silver
| and china, with two or three vases Of
choice dollhouse flowers. suppose it
vas typical American lady, among tho
s'plain people, too, who stated to me the
elements Of meal as she understood it,
in the following series First, order Gin
Guiding elegance and good attendance;)
second, intellectual conversations; and
lastly, something to eat
Plated ware originated in England
about the middle of the last century, the
first application having been made to small
articles in 1912, by Thomas Bolsover,
Shefseld mechanic, The new elegance
Brought within the means and supposed
prcprieties Of the middle class, took the
name Of sheffield Plate" not from the
process Of plating, but from the silver
ware Of which it was an imitation. P,s ,,
in this sense, is not our Saxon word cog
nate with fiat, but was borrowed from the
Spanish plata silver and applied to all
utensils made of the precious metals, in
whatever form.
To our elderly readers sheffield Plate
will still have familiar sound, for under
this name the beauty Of silver was FIRST
popularizsd in America, aud to a far
greater extent than even in England.
Probably the Sheffield and Birmingham
manufacturers of plated ware at one period
exported more goods to this country than
they sold Mt home.
A further and greater advance was
made in 1888, by the invention of electro.
plating, or rather the practical application
of the method which had been known, but
strangely neglected, for thirty years. At
one stroke planting was greatly reduced
in cost, its applications indefinitely extern
ded, and its effects incomparably improved.
Everybody in America IS now familiar
with the ordinary wares Of our numerous
electro-pating companies, and there is
hardly cottage worth two hundred dol
lars in the country where such wares are
not found; although the rich plating of
the Elkintons in England and the Cor
hams in America is too high in first cost
for the strictly popular demand.
Within half century the business Of |
the American silyersmith was mostly con-
fined to making spoons to order for the
jewellers, who rarely purchased more than
one or two dozen at time, for particular
orders. About 1925 it was noticed that
the silyersmiths began to venture into the |
manufacture Of light spoons for general
sale through class Of cheap jewelry ped
dlers, who are still well remembered. The
Providence manufacture had begun to be
extended and brought into national rcla-
tions by the enterprise of a young gold
smith named Jabez Gorham who adapted
bis work to the general requirements Of
the trade, and made bis way with lin the
market by undertaking and outpushing
the unmercantile mechanics of his craft.
Scri5ner's Magazine.