I am inspired by member Julie McLaughlin’s post on the Facebook Group called "The Very Boring Group" featuring Scotch-Brite sponges that reminded me of the silverware collection I own and where it came from.
It was a beautiful day here in Florida and things are winding down after an incredibly boring day of watching my resident woodpecker bang his head against a decaying tree while while at the same time trying to figure out the thought process of the Split Leaf Philodendron in my front planter. I came to the conclusion that behind its leaves is a process that needs to be filmed with a time lapse camera because you are never going to see anything happen by mere observation.I thought that my stainless steel silverware (also called utensils) service needed some attention so I opted out of my usual “Law and Order” Whatever Marathon one afternoon. I haven’t sorted my silverware in about twelve years. I am the envy of anyone who is short on silverware and especially anyone with a mere service for eight. I began collecting silverware piece by piece when I was eighteen years old by saving Betty Crocker coupons which allowed some savings if you collected enough coupons. One could purchase a single dinner fork or spoon in one of the exclusive to The Betty Crocker Coupon Catalogue patterns and either pay $3.42 plus 0 coupons for a dinner fork or use any number of coupons combined with cash for the better deal of 10 coupons plus $.50. I had almost a complete set of six when left my parent’s house to be on my own at age twenty three. The pattern I chose to collect was called “Chatelaine” and when my mother and my Aunt Jane passed on, I inherited their stainless. They both also collected the same pattern. So now, I am onto more meaningful tedium and thought.
I decided to count everything to see if I or one of
my guests had thrown a piece in the trash while clearing plates. Not that I would miss any one piece, mind
you, but it would be handy info to have.
I can tell who left me what by taking a close look
at the silverware. My mothers and Aunt's pieces are all scratched up and mine
are shiny and bright. The difference in
the shiny silverware and the dull silverware is because both my Mother and my
Aunt used the green and yellow Scotch Brite sponges to hand wash their dishes
every night since neither of them ever owned a dishwasher. I was the first one
in my family to have one. Scattered
throughout the drawer are very shiny utensils that are mine and the dull pieces
that were left to me. The shiny finish on their pieces was ruined by the
infamous Scotch-Brite Sponges.
When I have my family over for dinner, you won’t see
any plastic utensils and no one has to share a fork. For dessert everyone gets
a clean spoon or fork and no one has to wash dirty dinner spoons for a bowl of
ice cream after dinner.
The same thing happened with my both my Mother’s and
my Mother-in-law’s sterling silverware. They too had the same beautiful pattern. It is "Prelude" by International. Each had
service for eight and I am fortunate to have them both. They make a table so
beautiful and I don’t even mind polishing them when needed. I have them stored inside a silver chest with a tarnish resistant
flannel type of fabric that keeps them tarnish free. Back when my Mother-in-law was
still living, I thought it might be a nice idea for Christmas to have all of
her sterling polished for her. After inquiring about this luxury service, I was
informed it would cost $4.50 each piece. Let’s see...$4.50 x 8 five piece place settings plus all of the
extra pieces? This would ring in over
$200.00 at the very least. I opted for a
spray can
of Haggarty’s Polish and a polishing cloth. Just like my stainless, I can also tell which pieces belonged to my Mother and which ones belonged to my
Mother-in-law. My Mother-in-law used hers every day and my Mother only used hers
on Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas. When I see them all set at the table, I
can spot whose was who's. This silverware is very of special to me.
It took me quite awhile, but I vacuumed the variety
of crumbs, poppy seeds and unidentifiable dried food that had fallen into the silverware
drawer left to decompose. I wouldn’t say it was disgusting it just looked
icky I counted all of the silverware and
returned them to the drawer dividers separating place pieces and serving pieces
and placing them in two separate drawers. Thing are quite orderly now.
Here is what I found:
8 serrated steak knives
10 cocktail forks
20 salad/dessert forks
30 teaspoons
22 dinner knives
8 soup spoons
15 iced tea spoons
12 serrated grapefruit spoons
1 carving knife
1 carving fork
1 large salad serving spoon
1 large salad serving fork
1 pie serving knife
3 gravy ladles
20 dinner forks
22 tablespoons
3 butter knives
4 butter spreaders
2 infant spoons
1 infant fork
2 youth spoons
2 youth knives
2 youth knives
3 jelly spoons
2 sugar spoons
4 ice cream spoons
1 large casserole spoon
3 cold meat forks
1 pie server
9 serving spoons
2 slotted serving spoons
16 SPORKS
