OK. Sandwich tongs? Smoked fish holders?

Try asparagus....
Picks up a nice serving from a platter and places it neatly on your plate where you can use your individual tongs.
Incidentally....note the pattern of those in the linked photo.
Who said I am not an enabler!!
Linda C

Here is a link that might be useful:

Sorry, I don't have any individual asparagus tongs (most are newly made), but below is an asparagus tray w/drainer (probably not as old as Linda's tongs). The Frontenac fork is also for serving them but doesn't work nearly as well as large tongs. The link is another kind of asparagus server that was made - this one is recently madeup but the shape is correct.

I've also seen MCM trays that had an attached sauce boat as well as a holder for the tongs.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hooded Asparagus

****sigh****
That tray is beautiful!! Could it be Old Sheffield?

I wish. I forget who the maker is & I'm not home to look but it's most likely American early 20th century. It's plated over copper & the grape detail is fabulous 'in person'. Also, it has little ball feet that don't show in the photo.

Ahh those are the asparagus servers I was thinking of. I serve asparagus with tongs that look like Linda's at the functional end, except for being an ugly silicone cooking utensil. I guess I need a tray! And an asparagus plot!

With a tray this size, growing your own would definitely be the way to go! I don't think I've ever used it for asparagus because it would take a min. of 3 lbs. just to avoid looking stingy.

What a gorgeous piece!
I can see how you chose your screen name ;-)

Sweeby, what are some of your Grandmother's other fabulous finds? Anyone who had a cheese holder probably had a treasure trove of other oddities.

Oh goodness... Well that Grandma bought a little silver baby cup made by Paul Revere's smith/forge (what do you call it?) at a garage sale. It's sitting in a museum in Boston now -- don't know which one.

She also had a house full of hand-blocked Zuber wallpaper, including a nearly complete set of 'The Four Climate Zones' -- a huge mural depicting the various geographies of the world. There was another Zuber paper in the stairwell, but I don't remember the name, and I don't think it was that rare.

She also collected early American antique furniture, and had a pretty good eye. She sold most of her collection before moving into retirement houseing, and apparently, the furnishings she sold went for enough to pay her lifetime buy-in fees at a pretty nice spot.

Here are a few more of Grandma's hand-me-downs:

Whiting & Lennox Demitasse for 12:

Castleford Butter Crock (ca 1830's)

Mason's Double Landscape Jug

'Sheraton'? Loveseat (Anyone know for sure?)

Victorian Loveseat

Pinapple Game Table

I think I want to be your sister!!!
Are all those wonderful things in your house?
And yes that love seat is certainly Sheraton in style!
Linda C

WOW- I wish she had been my grandmother. Mine collected nothing, disliked her grandchildren, & was only mildly fond of her own children! Those things are beautiful; thanks for sharing.

"Mine collected nothing, disliked her grandchildren, & was only mildly fond of her own children!"

Well, at least mine collected! ;-)
She wasn't overly fond of children either... Kept saying something about "seen but not heard" and thought giving compliements would swell their heads
(As long as I knew her, she was never in any danger of that...)

I recently won this on ebay & since it's a bit unusual, thought it might fit in the 'mystery' category. Anybody want to guess its purpose??

The pattern is 'Meadow' by Gorham, c. 1897; it is 6-3/4" long & extremely heavy for its size. Most of the time, forks of this size with splayed tines (usually curved) are called Beef or Chipped Beef Forks but occasionally I've heard them referred to differently. Due to the weight & long simple tines, I think it was used for a different food. What is it?

Lettuce Fork?

Would that be a lettuce fork antiquesilver??

Nope, a lettuce fork is long handled with 3 sharp, flared tines. The ebay seller I bought it from advertised it as such but she was completely wrong - these tines are quite thick & not particularly sharp & that's another reason I don't think it was ever considered a beef fork.

Below is an actual lettuce fork - in the same pattern - for sale on ebay.

Here is a link that might be useful: Meadow lettuce fork

Boy...it's a short fork....could it be for serving fish?....but I would think that would be larger...
oysters on the half shell? Not for eating but for taking from a platter??
Grabbing at straws here!
Linda c

It's the length of a luncheon fork but definitely the wrong weight. At first I thought someone had 'handcrafted' this from a luncheon fork but to my knowledge LF's were normally manufactured in only one weight - & depending on the mfgr, that wt. was 30-50% less than this piece . I like the idea of picking up oysters but I bet it would be messy - even for the butler who was plating! This fork should work very well for the intended food although I haven't tried it yet.

OK... How about a Strawberry Fork?

Nope....strawberry forks have long skinny tines.
This is for something fairly heavy...
Fried chicken?

Keep on guessing! Individual berry forks are delicate & usually under 5" long with 2 or 3 long, thin tines. For serving, I've only seen the large bowled berry spoons. Whole strawberries would probably roll off of my fork & it wouldn't be nearly as effective as a spoon for cut up berries.

Think of a food that probably came from Europe with the immigrant population at the turn of the century.

Here is a link that might be useful: Individual berry fork

Fried chicken is a good guess - & it's likely I'll use it for that more than the real purpose. Thanks for suggesting it.

Ah Ha....potatoes!

It will work (probably quite well) for potatoes but that's not what I have in mind. Supposedly the original potato fork had 2 tines & is just like the 'custom made' ones that're so plentiful. I've never seen a photo of one in an old catalog but I have seen them listed as items within a pattern. I never thought the things existed until recently someone showed me the old pattern listing.

Interesting possibility that may be accurate although I still like my use better.

Linguine!

Fori beat me to it - I was thinking some form of pasta.... or noodles.

I'm trying to think of peasant foods but things like eggplant or cabbage would probably need a more "solid" surface with maybe some drainage holes.

You know Hester - you have me looking at silver again on the 'net! That can be bad, very bad!
Pat

Fori, I'm not sure if it would work for linguine but I can see macaroni or some other chunky pasta salad being lifted with it, although that's not the intended purpose. A true macaroni server/knife, as they were called, is a large, flattish server with a raised edge on one side & graduated teeth on the other. They're spectacular & tend to be rather pricey!

Pat, you're on the right track with cabbage. I bet you're going to be looking for one of these forks now. That's how is starts & Ebay is the collector's equivilent of a crack house.
Welcome to Silver Anonymous. My name is Hester & I haven't bought any flatware for 4 days. I thought I'd kicked the habit but I've fallen off the wagon.... again.

Fori, this is a fine example of a macaroni server. I guess 'macaroni' covered all kinds of pasta - & for that price, I'd be eating pasta for the rest of my life!

Here is a link that might be useful: Macaroni server

I'm still thinking about that fork, but as far as being a crack addict, I am working very hard to convince myself that I DON"T NEED ANYTHING in this pattern:

Here is a link that might be useful: Whiting Violet I just think it's so Pretty!

La La La....I don't hear you!!
I have a new vice...silver bangle bracelets! Much cheaper per item than serving forks....and I can wear them every day....and jingle-jangle-jingle to my heart's content!
Don't need no damned fancy forks....
You hear??? No more fancy forks!!

That's the problem, Pat - we don't need any of these pieces but we like to treat ourselves - & it's so easy to rationalize because they're useful. ROTFLMAO. Useful, yeah right - all of us use our grape shears & sardine forks on a weekly basis, just couldn't function without them!!!!!!!!
Whiting's Violet is a pretty pattern but some of their silver is light weight so if you're buying on the internet ask the seller to weigh it.

And Linda, you'll be back! The forks are calling your name.

And the answer is..........drum roll please........ a Sauerkraut Fork. Don't you think it would be perfect for that? I've never seen an old catalog with this in it but then I only have copies of about 10 catalogs so there are a lot of unknowns. I've heard it referred to as this before & then Martha Stewart's Living had an article on Victorian silver a few years ago & there was a fork like this - identified by somebody important - as a sauerkraut fork.

I'm convinced this is NOT for beef - the tines are too blunt to spear anything. I'm not that fond of sauerkraut but it should work with any food of that texture. Pesto is a probable candidate, too since I don't have a $1200 macaroni server, just a $39, rare, sauerkraut fork!

Is everybody feeling enabled?

Now I have to go looking for a sauerkraut fork.....

I was racking my brain and surfing the 'net - I'm glad you gave the answer!
I bet you could also use it for spearing baked potatoes or,as was mentioned, fried chicken.
It's a lovely piece you have there....congratulations!
I'll know what it is the next time I see one!

FYI - Below is the plainest Gorham Beef Fork in a pattern of the same era that I could find. It's the same overall length & the tines appear flat, shorter & more tapered. It's half the weight. Most others have similar shape but have a pierced bowl like the Imperial Chrysanthemum one that's also for sale; there's no weight listed for a comparison.

I wish I could find another with exactly the same tine shape & weight as mine. Then I could more easily justify that Gorham made them for a different purpose.

Imperial Chrysanthemum
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=400126576538&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT

Here is a link that might be useful: Luxemburg Beef Fork

MORE! MORE! I want to see more goofy things!

I have a few "goofy things" from my mom and grandmothers, but they're packed away - and, um, I don't have a digital camera at the moment anyway. But.....I have a beautiful Bride's Basket in those boxes. What were bride's baskets used for? It's beautiful, but it's shape and size seem so impractical....

I'll be interested in hearing the answer to this, too.

A bride's basket is just a "thing" a centerpiece or a shelf piece....not for anything but for giving.
I have heard tales that it was something for the bride to put her wedding bouquet in after the wedding but I don't think that's so, because mostly in the 1880's brides carried things like a few lilies or a few roses not bouquets.
What I have also heard and believe is true is that theyw ere called that because they were so often given as a wedding gift.
Linda C

That's funny, Linda..... My grandmothers always said the same thing - it's just a pretty thing! It just seems unlikely because they seemed like such practical people, but you just confirmed it. I also have a lot of their American Brilliant crystal pieces, so I guess they had a little room for whimsy, too.

I think I'll give the basket to my dtr. She's crazy about pink, and this one is pink. She also likes having a connection to her past, and this basket was her great-great-grandmother's from the late 1890s.

Thanks.....

Sherry

Victorians were anything BUT practical....it's all form over function....where else in history wo7uld you find sterling asparagus tongs and saurkraut forks and a silver gouda cheese holder?

Their specialized flatware usually works exceedingly well for the intended purpose - much better than a generic fork or spoon. I doubt it would ever be considered practical from an economic standpoint but is was very functional.

I googled brides basket & didn't come up with much except pieces for sale; maybe it was just another nick-nack. I wish somebody with a Victorian book of etiquette would chime in.

Well , it has taken me a while to get through this chat but i had a lot of fun on the way ! It is often the case that some silver pieces have you puzzled about their uses. I particularly love the silver flatware queries above - they have had me guessing also lol. However can you guess this one

This post was edited by AndrewCampbell on Thu, May 30, 13 at 9:21

You probably should have started a new thread rather than tagging on to the bottom of this one. Also using this forum to promote your shop is in bad taste & frowned upon.

I thought I was helping someone out who didn't know what their item was, but as you have a shop you know your item is a marrow scoop. mfrog

I do apologise if i caused any offence. I was genuinely not aware of any wrong doing on this thread. I am new to forums and clearly misunderstood. I thought as people where posting pieces of silver and asking people what they are for, etc that I would join in and let people on the thread guess what the image was. I know its use but simply thought you may like to guess.

Again sincere apologies.

Thank you for understanding that advertising your shop on here isn't in good taste.
You are most welcome to start a new thread offering up pieces for identification, we all love a challenge & can lead to some interesting exchanges.
Hope to see you jump in to help out especially with silver ID, which seems to stump people the most. mfrog

If this thread is still 'alive'...I would greatly appreciate a 'use-identification' anyone can offer. I have no idea what it is...found it in my parents collection and they were married late 1940s. It is 3.5" in diameter x 3" tall, and only markings are "Wallace" & "88" on the underside. (I covered my Dad's personal etched i.d. info w orange tape). It has a fish and maybe acanthus leaf design, a square opening on top-center, and round opening (not threaded) on bottom-center. Is this some sort of flower-stem holder for a vase?? Thanks for any thoughts!!!

dma you picture if you posted it did not show. I would suggest that rather than tagging onto an old posting that you start a new one. Because of glitches sometimes a second post will show a picture while the first one will not.

Thanks Maifleur...I'm new to posting. I'll try again w a new post...if I can figure out how to do that. thanks!

The long narrow spoon is a marrow spoon or scoop.