I've got some old steel forks that have been handed down for a long time; they're generally known as Civil War Era flatware. I use them daily to cook, as my great grandmother did. And in one case possibly her grandmother.
1; only 50 years old, my mom gave it to me when I moved into my first apartment.
2-5; these are the ones handed down from great grandmother, and are still used daily; fittings are soft pewter, handle material is a hard wood of some kind. The steel is still bright ( I used Barkeeper's Friend on them occassionally).
6; two-tines, this one is probably late 18th century ( 1701-1800); fragile and the horn handle is in pretty bad shape, so it's no longer used. My late mom (1925-2004) remembered her grandmother (1855-1936) using it in the kitchen but didn't know who it came from. According to my old family tree, we started out over in Berks County, Pennsylvania (1717), moved through Circleville, Ohio (1779), on through to Paris, Illinois (NW of Terre Haute), around 1851, so #6 could be 200+ years old (anybody have access to a thermal ionization mass spectrometer...?)
None have any identifying markings.
If you G**gle "civil war era forks" you'll find a lot of them. My guess is that a lot of INGO members have a few as well.
Internet image
Internet image
Fourth from the left looks like one of mine.
1; only 50 years old, my mom gave it to me when I moved into my first apartment.
2-5; these are the ones handed down from great grandmother, and are still used daily; fittings are soft pewter, handle material is a hard wood of some kind. The steel is still bright ( I used Barkeeper's Friend on them occassionally).
6; two-tines, this one is probably late 18th century ( 1701-1800); fragile and the horn handle is in pretty bad shape, so it's no longer used. My late mom (1925-2004) remembered her grandmother (1855-1936) using it in the kitchen but didn't know who it came from. According to my old family tree, we started out over in Berks County, Pennsylvania (1717), moved through Circleville, Ohio (1779), on through to Paris, Illinois (NW of Terre Haute), around 1851, so #6 could be 200+ years old (anybody have access to a thermal ionization mass spectrometer...?)
None have any identifying markings.
If you G**gle "civil war era forks" you'll find a lot of them. My guess is that a lot of INGO members have a few as well.
Internet image
Internet image
Fourth from the left looks like one of mine.
