Artifact Spotlight: Spooners
In the Old Kentucky Home boardinghouse, an interesting feature of the dining room’s tablescape is our Spooner Glass. Sometimes referred to as a Spoon Jar, or simply a Spoon Holder, Spooner Glasses were a common component of the proper late Victorian table setting.
One glass collector suggested that during the Victorian period, the frugal or more economical homemaker did not set spoons out at each individual place setting, as she may not have had enough spoons to go around. Another suggested Spooners were a symbol of hospitality- readily making spoons available so visitors who might need them could use them throughout the day.
Other examples of Spooners we viewed show some with spoons turned so that only handles were visible, while others kept them bowl side up. They are often in proximity to the sugar bowl, convenient for tea or coffee service throughout the day. Some Spooners included a sugar bowl in the middle, with spoons being hung around the outside for easy use.
Looking at Montgomery Ward and Sears Roebuck catalogs from the 1890s to early 1900s, there are several listings for spoon holders. Some were silver plated to match silver service sets, and many were glass with fluted edges. Some had small handles on their sides, which mimicked the style of other smaller table pieces, like sugar and creamer sets. By the 1930s Spooners phased out of the broader table setting all together, in favor of a simpler place setting.
Pieces from a silver-plated line offered in the 1895 Montgomery Ward & Co. catalog. Notice the spoon holder, far right, is in the same style and design as the sugar bowl and creamer, designed to be a complete set and left on the table at all times.
In 1908, Sears, Roebuck & Co. advertised a set of cut-glass tableware, listing a spoon holder as a piece of the set, all for $3.68. Today that would be over $100 dollars, but still a very excellent deal considering both Victorian and modern cut-glass table pieces can go for several hundreds of dollars for individual items alone. As you can see, the Spooner Glass in the Old Kentucky Home is very similar to this cut-glass style, and fits in with other cut-glass pieces on our tables, like pickle casters, condiment caddies, creamers, and sugar dispensers.
