I have a friend who has been collecting them for years, they use them as punch cups.
Silver polish will remove the tarnish...I believe theya re worth more as a cup than as scrap silver...and my grand daughter is named Margaret....the old names are newly fashionable and they never went out of style with many people. Names like Daniel and Stephen and Alexander and Grace and Anna are becoming popular with those who might buy your silver cups rather than names like Braydon and Jaydon and Kaydon.
Sell them as cups....better than scrap.
Linda C

"Braydon, Jaydon, and Kaydon" made me laugh out loud, I have a girlfriend whose grandson is Jaydon! I love the idea of using the old christening cups for punch cups.

Annie

I too like the idea to use them as punch cups. I only have one but now I'm going to start looking for them at sales!

Suesan, if you tend to be like 'Martha', you could probably decorate a small Holiday tree with the polished cups & spoons attached with ribbons. And you'd still have them for punch later on. Please don't scrap them - you'll probably never see that quality again in modern silver.

I had an initial polished out of a sterling baby spoon and engraved with the "new" one and gave it as a gift. I know sterling isn't "in".......... but I think its a wonderful gift.

The silver cups also look great with a bit of holly or fir(or the fake stuff!) at Christmas. Dried flowers are also lovely in them. I wouldn't keep fresh flowers in them for any length of time -- maybe an evening.

Cathy

Please don't sell them as scrap! Many people buy old silver pieces to use as accessories for their dresser or tables. And families can always engrave another name on the cup, if wanted.

Do people really think sterling isn't "in"? It's timeless.

You could sell yours on eBay or donate them to Goodwill--Goodwill has a website for auctions.

Eggnog. On Christmas morning when the family is together.

Thanks everybody! I thoroughly enjoyed your helpful posts and anecdotes. I do really like the idea of punch or eggnog cups. I can see just getting a nice large glass bowl and hanging the cups around the side using 'S' hooks that can be had at any hardware store. But not for me - I'll suggest it to friends, who might like the idea too, or the Martha S. idea of hanging them from a tree with ribbons (he-he).
Before posting I just couldn't imagine any use at all, but still don't want them because of the upkeep of silver; also isn't my area of collecting - already gave away three sets of silverware because of that.
And yes, scrapping anything old or vintage was a bad idea.
Thanks again,
Suesan

I am a senior high school teacher. You cannot believe some of the names and how they are spelled. One young lady is named Cheyenne after the city in Wyoming. That's an easy one.

Hah! I totally relate. It's so weird: I'm a high school teacher too (on a break), but knew quite a few of the little ones too. Getting stranger and stranger. Dakota, Montanna (yes, spelled that way) . . .

In this little town we had, born last month, a Braedon and a Braydon, Alexzander Jas, Karter, Meza Danniel, a boy by the way and Kingston Leon...out of a total of 15. The girls were Madison, Mercedes, Morgan, Luci Lynn, and there was a Stephen, Traer and Austin in there too..Don't get it!
I come from a family of a long line of naming boys the surnam of an ancestor...we had Farnon and Parker and Stewart and Wyley and Prescott so I understand naming different names, but why the "creative" spelling? That poor Alexzander! One can only pray they call him Alex and the rest is soon forgotten.
I know someone who has 2 little girls named Tiffany and Dior...Ach!
Linda C

Or there could be Gucchi, Gucchi, Goo!

Ha Ha! Where do people get those names?

I have my grandfather's baby cup, mine, and my 3 children's. I love to put red roses in them at Christmas. I also do this with my mint julep cups. The rest of the year, they are on display in my china cabinet.

My nephew told us about a kid he went to school with whose name was pronounched 'Shi-thead'& it was spelled accordingly. Wouldn't want to see that on a baby cup, would you?

From years as teacher, worst name story: lady had boy in 5th grade, Zachary. In third grade, Yrachaz (ee rah cahs), Zachary spelled backwards. She just LOVED the name Zachary.

The Germans have an official accepted list for names you can give children. I was disillusioned by this when my daughter went to German tennis camp with a fellow named Bodo.

That's funny. Zach is nice, but . . . hmm
The worst that comes to mind at the moment is Javeay. The mom/parents apparently didn't know it was supposed to be Xavier.
Interesting about German official accepted names. As a stereotype, German peoples do seem so organized in everything and exceptionally good at a lot of things. I wonder if Bodo is a nickname - that's bad!

getting back to the cups.....

Suesan, please don't sell them for scrap. Try to find someone who can take a look at them and see if any are by any makers who are important. If you don't want to keep them, you might try Silver Monogram Finds on the web. I've never sold to them, but I've bought a couple pieces from them as gifts. They specialize in old silver that has names or monograms -- simply because a lot of people really value that. I have used the site to find pieces for gifts.

I'd also encourage you to give them as presents --people really do think silver is special -- or find new ways to use them yourself, as some other folks have suggested. I use them for serving nuts at parties. (Just wash them out afterward -- salt will pit silver.) Whatever you do, polish them once and store them in Ziplock bags and you won't have to worry about tarnish.

Sterling is timeless my daughter uses it everyday.. i had my mothers my wedding silver ( francis 1, my mother had king richard, my daughter gorham chantilly. im collecting random patterns of old silverfor myself . baby cups are eonderfull. as are bronzed shoes. my ex had our grandaughters tiny littlecrocs bronzed!. as for names .. my exes last name is gross thats his surname. i didnt want my kids teases so back in 1980 brooklyn was born 82 cooper was born and 85 keaton was born. unfort unfortunately there are a zillion of kids with those names in schools now. my kids love their names

I use pickle forks and spouns and the baby cups on the tree so sweet