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Sunday, September 25, 2016

Tuesday Cuppa Tea - Victorian Ingenuity - Sugar Sifting Spoons

Welcome to Tuesday Cuppa Tea! A bit different today...no teacup, but a Victorian teatime necessity explained!




I was just thinking about how good the Victorians were at having a utensil for everything!  Sugar sifting spoons came to mind...



The Victorians were famous for coming up with fun things for the table. And everything they came up with were practical as well as finely wrought and decorated to within an inch of it's life! The spoon below is an antique American sterling silver example, probably by Watson....






I am fascinated by Victorian gadgets, and especially those that relate to the taking of tea. Sugar sifting spoons were originally design for use when sugar came in large cones and had to be broken into smaller pieces. Sugar bowls or sucriers were quite a bit larger than the sugar basins or sugar bowls of today because the lumps were truly that...lumps like coal or coke. The sugar was then crushed with a sugar tamper (another story) and then the sugar sifting spoon came into play.  






Muffins, crumpets or pikelets (sort of our English muffins) and pancakes were a teatime favorite with butter, honey, jam or syrup and the sugar was sifted onto the muffins or crumpets. Sifting spoons were necessary to get a good sprinkle going from obviously un uniform sugar. And they were usually beautifully designed. 




These 2  mid Victorian designs above are completey hand made...




Sugar sifting spoons came in sterling silver and silver plate and were a normal part of a Victorian set of table flatware. 




They are very difficult to find nowadays.  




The 2 examples blow are commemorative sugar sifting spoons...the top made in 1937 for the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, and the next as a souvenir on the White Star...later Cunard ocean liner the MV Britannic...





The top sugar sifting sppon example is currently available at Antiques And Teacups . For more photos and info, go to: Sterling Silver Sugar Sifting Spoon Fancy Shell USA.

The other examples are from the sold archives of my shops. 

Lovely...a spoonful of sugar will be sure to make the medicine (or crumpet) go down in a most delightful way with this!  Hope you enjoyed seeing some fun examples of Victorian ingenuity!  I will be traveling for the next few days, so will be slow getting back to you...heading to see our Daughter and family for a bit of a between doctor related medical break. John's MRI went well, but we don't hear for a few weeks, so decided to visit the family...Hopefully I will be joining:



Thanks so much for joining me for tea!  Here is the linky for your tea related posts...please remember that it is SSSLLLOOOOOOWWWW but if you are patient...it's there! And I love to read your comments, and I do read every one if I can find and can get to you to visit!  If you comment from Google+…it isn’t easy...so forgive me if I am not replying to comments you so kindly leave...I am trying!

10 comments:

  1. What a lovely collection of sugar spoons! The Victorians certainly put a great deal of emphasis on details. Guess that's why I love the era's jewelry so much.
    Have a nice relaxing trip visiting your daughter. Thanks for hosting.

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  2. I always learn something with my every visit here! Sugar spoons - I had never heard of them before......

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  3. Thank you for the history of the sugar sifting spoons, Ruth. I also read about the good news of your hubby's brain scan...wonderful! Thanks for hosting and enjoy your visit with your daughter.

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  4. Oh those are so pretty and exquisite! Real treasures!....Christine

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  5. The spoons are soooo cute ♥

    summerdaisycottage.blogspot.com

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  6. What lovely specimens of sugar sifting spoons and I enjoyed the history about them. Ruth, you always manage to share something new and interesting. Enjoy your trip and we all hope your hubby continues to do well.

    Hugs,
    Sandi

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  7. The sugar sifting spoons are wonderful. I must hunt and see if I can find any in the antique stores around here. Hope you visit goes well, and your husband's results are good. We just returned from visiting our daughter and family on the west coast of Canada.

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  8. Interesting! I'll have to keep an eye out for these special spoons when I'm treasure hunting. Thank you for hosting and enjoy your trip!

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  9. Dear Ruth:
    You have some wonderful pieces! This was very helpful information! Thanks for sharing and linking.

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  10. What a great little gadget! I need one. I just got a tea bag tongs and I don't know how I lived without them. ha Love tea things! Thanks for sharing!

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Thanks for visiting and we love to hear from you! We read every comment. If my husband's health permits, I love to visit andreply. Have a wonderful day and a cuppa tea always at hand! :)