Book Review: American Spoons Souvenir and Historical by Dorothy T. Rainwater and Donna H. Felger

Book Review: American Spoons Souvenir and Historical by Dorothy T. Rainwater and Donna H. Felger

If you are a collector of sterling silver souvenir spoons the the book "American Spoons Souvenir and Historical by Dorothy T. Rainwater and Donna H. Felger" is a must have for your print library. You can always search Google or comb through Ebay or Etsy, but nothing really beats having a substantial book like this that you can browse through and find about things you never even realized existed. The authors put in thousands of hours of work and it is likely that the reference and resource material used to make the book in the year 1990 does not even exist out there in today's era (other than inside this book.)

Table of Contents: The books is organized by spoon type into 21 chapters featuring sections on different themes. There are chapters on native american spoons, military spoons, historical figures and more. There is also a huge section after these chapters featuring reprints of catalogs and ads that feature antique sterling silver souvenir spoons.

American Spoons Souvenir and Historical by Dorothy T. Rainwater and Donna H. Felger - Table of Contents

Selected Chapters - We have chosen 3 chapters to highlight from the book:

Native American Themed Chapter - One of our favorite chapters is called "Teepees and Tom-Toms." This chapter pictures many spons that showcase Native American (formerly called Indians) culture. I especially love the section that pictures all of Tiffany's Native American Spoons which label all the tribal dances featured in the collection.

Holiday Themed Chapter - Another Chapter called "Every Day's a Holiday" features illustrations of all the Gorham Zodiac sterling souvenir spoons. The chapter also depicts holiday spoons from Christmas, Thanksgiving and other eventful occassions. You will discover a lot of spoons in this chapter are fun and whimsical.

World's Fair Themed Chapter - If you are a collector of World's Fair Exposition items then this chapter if for you. It is a big chapter that showcases most of the major world's fairs and illustrates the incredible spoons that were made for these. This chapter is called "Meet me at the Fair."

Catalog Reprints:

The back of the book is stuffed full of catalog reprints of old souvenir spoon ads, catalogs and other printed resource materials. These reprint are treasure troves of the past and it is amazing to how finely detailed the illustrations were made to illustrate these spoons. The book has about 50 pages worth of these to look at with a combination of photos and hand drawn visuals.

The following is an excerpt from the inside jacket of the book which explains the book and its origin.

American Spoons Souvenir and Historical

by Dorothy T. Rainwater and Donna H. Felger

Twenty years ago a history buff and an avid collector of souvenir spoons collaborated to write American Spoons, Souvenir & Historical. Now, the same team, which later wrote A Collector's Guide to Spoons Around the World, has brought their first book up-to-date with revisions, new material and added color plates in an entirely new format.

Spoons, whose origin is veiled in the mists of prehistory, are used by all mankind. First, by infants for their first semi-solid food, spoons are also tokens of remembrance on joyful occasions, administrators of medicine in times of illness, conveyors of delightful desserts in time of health and finally, in old age when man reverts to the semi-solid diet of infancy, spoons are still essential.

The spoons whose stories are told in this volume range from a diamond encrusted one-of-a-kind spoons given by a group of diamond cutters to the silver plated promotional items used to sell newspapers and breakfast cereals.

Perhaps the first spoons used by man were simply shells picked up on the beaches, or chips of wood called spon from which our word spoon is derived. American spoons as commemorative items began with the Niagara Falls Suspension Bridge Spoon patented by Myron H. Kinsley in 1881. Within a few years the popularity of commemorative spoons quickly spread as ideal mementoes for practically every conceivable event, personage, or natural wonder.

George and Martha Washington were the first people of note to appear on American spoons when their designs were trademarked by the Galt Company in 1890, but the spoons generally credited with launching the souvenir spoon craze were the Salem Witch spoons whose trademark was registered January 13, 1891 by the Daniel Low Company and used on countless small sterling silver articles.

These trademarked designs were followed by others but the greatest number of designs were patented. It is these patented designs which form the basis for this volume. They commemorate famous people, tell of the winning of the West, the days of the Forty Niners, world fairs, sports, holidays, commercial ventures and much more.

The text is visually enhanced by more than 800 illustratioss

eight full-color plates and about sixty pages produced from old trade catalogs.

Conclusion: American Spoons Souvenir and Historical by Dorothy T. Rainwater and Donna H. Felger first printed in the year 1990 is a must have book for any serious collector of antique silver spoons. The amount of information held in the book is staggering. The authors did a fantastic job showcasing the cross sections of the most important historical spoons. Highly recommend to purchase the book which is available on Ebay as well other other 3rd party resale sites.

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