Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1907-10-17
SOME CURIOUS SPOONS.
Uses to Which They Were Put by Peo-
pie a Few Centuries Ago.

pie Few Centuries Ago.
We are familiar nowadays with
spoons of many shapes intended for
every variety of purpose, but some old
fashioned styles are now merely curl
Osities. There is the old fashioned
narrow spoon, for instance which was
used for extracting marrow from
bones 1t was made double, one end
being used for small bones and the
other for those of larger bore.
Another example is the mulberry
spoon. This has perforated bowl and
a spiked and pointed handle, says the
London Globe. The implements were
made for use in a day when muIber-
rieS were much more commonly eaten
than they are at the present time.
With the perforated bowl a little sugar
was sprinkled on the berry, which was
then conveyed to the mouth on the
spiked end of the handle.
The introduction of tea led to the
making of q variety of new kinds of
spoons, including the necessary tea
spoon itself, some of which still re-
main in use, while others have disap-
peared. At South KenSingtOn may be
seen, for example, a curious collection
Of the little scoops so well known
to our -grandmOthers as caddy
spoons. Tea caddies of the old fash
! toned kind have long been superseded
and when the caddy with its two lid
ded and metal lined end compartments
and the sugar bowl in the cavity be-
tween went out of use the caddy spoon
or scoop disappeared also.
Another obsolete curiosity is the
snuff spoon, which in the days when
nearly everybody took snuff and took
1t everywhere was used for conveying
the scented powder from the box to
the hand or in some cases direct to the
nose. Candle spoons and pap spoons
also are out of date. A LlangOllen
gentleman a few months ago wrote in
q Shropshire paper that he had in his
! possession a silver pap spoon which
had been originally given by the Mar
| quiS of Exeter to q member of the
Hoggins family of BOlas. The posses
sOr of this spoon remarked that 1t had
DCSu given " llllI NY LIS IttIIItL Win
the wish that it should be handed
over TO the first married in each sue
| ceeding generation, for as such it had
come to him through the intermarriage
of the two families in years gone by.
Three hundred years ago there was
one at IIford, in Essex, which held
more than Il quart. Others Of more
! legitimate make were such as the curl
Gus combination implement with which
folk of that date were familiar. When
most people still dipped their fingers
into the general dish to help them
selves to meat more dainty diners car
ried about with them an implement
| which was q combination Of spoon
and fork and toothpick.
! The fork was at the back of the
! spoon, while the handle of the double
article was finished off with a little
! figure terminal. which served as ham
die for the toothpick. The terminal
| figure was very favorite form Of
! spoon ornamentatiOn.
| 1t is most familiar in the apostle
spoons, of which original sets fetch
! such high prices and of which latter
| day limitations are 50 abundant, but
! the figures were by no means confined
| to the apostles. In some cases the
spoons were curiously finished with
double heads, which can hardly have
| conduced, one would think, to conven-
| fence of handling. A curious but de
cidedly unpleasant form of ornament
| gave its name to the deaths head"
spoon, which was made for commend
rative purposes, a very unattractive
! kind of "memento MORT"