spoons

What we collect says a lot about who we are and what inspires us. I'd been planning to share these pictures with you and then I read this about collections. I decided to write up a full post to go with the photos. I'd been helping my mother at the barn... sorting her collections, and I found this spoon.


My grandfather carved it for my grandmother in the year 1946. They spent several weeks camping on the beach at Montauk (Long Island) each summer when my mother was a little girl. I grew up listening to Montauk stories. To be able to hold something in my hand from that magical time in my family's history felt incredible. Remember, I am the nostalgic one...keeper of memories. I can imagine my grandfather whittling this spoon by a campfire to sound of the waves lapping on the shore.


I have another spoon that he created for my grandmother...this one he hammered into shape.

I kept it safely tucked in a box until very recently. Now it lives in my sugar bowl and I use it every morning for my coffee or tea...tasting that handmade utilitarian beauty with every sip. Long ago, before mass production, many everyday items were infused with the style and craftsmanship of their maker.

Back to my mother's collections...we dug up a bunch of spoons to share with you. Remember what I said about collections speaking about their owners. I didn't know my mother collected spoons, but I had to laugh. Over the summer my sister and I were having iced tea and we both stirred in our sugar and didn't remove our spoons. When we took our first sip we realized we both have the same habit of drinking all of our beverages, cold or hot, with a big spoon clanking against our mouth..."just like mom!" we exclaimed. Our mother likes spoons and so do we... here's a bit of her collection...




Brought back from China by my great grandfather in the 1920's

My grandmother's bakelites...




Mexican enamel-ware and tiny tin spoons...


Not technically spoons...but I thought they were beautiful...

Miniature spoons from Indonesia...the one on the left is from a coconut...


What I love about this collection is that we put them to use...no dusting needed!