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danemodsandy

danemodsandy

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 6, 2006
Messages
8,180
Location
The Bramford, Apt. 7-E
Hello:

I am looking for something that is evidently absolutely unobtainable on this side of the pond, and wondered if any of our British members might know anything....

I'm looking for a lemon fork that is plain, unadorned stainless steel. This is one Yank who appreciates a good cuppa, and my old fork was lost due to a combination of lazy partner/energetic Disposall. There are lots of silver ones on eBay, but they're all the frilly kind of thing you'd see given as a wedding gift, promptly put away, never to be seen again. I just want something plain and simple that can be used in a '60s modern environment, without polishing as if the Princess Royal was coming or something.

This country can drive you nuts sometimes - every discount store offers thirty or forty different television models, and dozens of cell phones, along with God-knows-how-many iPods and their clones. But try to find stainless cutlery beyond the basic knife/fork/spoon!

At any rate, any help would be greatly appreciated. P.S.: I could also use a new caddy spoon, if anyone knows where those can be had in stainless.
 
Sandy,

I will keep an eye out for one I can send your way.

I had a couple myself but have not seen them for a good while, hell knows where they have gone though.

Would you be willing to maybe swap a fork (if I can find one) for something detergenty?

See what you think perhaps?

Rob
 
What did you

call yourself Sandy?? A YANK?

No, say it ain't so!

My great uncle told me when he was in England during WWII it drove him crazy to be referred to as a "yank". He would whistle Dixie when it happened.

I may not be a Rebel clad in grey but I sure ain't a yank. That title is reserved for the boys north of the mason-dixon line in my book.
 
Hi Rob:

It's funny you should mention something detergent-y, because a good friend of mine found a gigantic box of vintage Tide only this weekend, at a sale I'd been to. I'd missed it completely - something the size and colour of a large pumpkin! I haven't the eye, evidently.

So, lemon forks aren't the thing in the U.K. any more, either, eh? Pity that civilised things of all kinds are disappearing. You still have it better there than we do here. I am trying to put together some Old Hall "Connaught" pieces - 2-pint teapot, 2-pint hot water jug, sugar bowl, milk jug, and strainer - as a tea service. Over here, it's like trying to find an honest politician. On your side of the pond, I understand the stuff turns up in boot sales.

Sigh.

9-8-2008-14-41-47--danemodsandy.jpg
 
Greg:

"No, say it ain't so!"

Greg: When I'm talking with someone British, I take and mean no offence by the term. I used to work for a company with a roster of British clients; since I can communicate passably well in British English, I was given all those accounts to work with. It saved quite a lot of time, misunderstanding, and money. I'd email back and forth with terms like "Perspex" (Plexiglas), "car park" (parking lot), "on offer" (for sale), "EPNS" (silverplate), and the like. There was also the matter of metric measurements vs. American ones, and the exchange rate, as well as knowing what time it was over there. I'd then translate for our good-ol'-boy staff.

Saved a whole heap of money. They thought "centimetres" was just a funny furrin word for "feet".

Don't wet your pantalets over "Yank" in this context! ;-)
 
Found article eplaining what a lemon fork is. Yet can't seem to muster-up an image. Who is willing to help a damsel in distress? (Bats eyelashes seductively).

I'm guessing in the UK a Yankee is simply an American.
 
Toggles:

A photo of a proper lemon fork is below; note the three splayed tines. This one is much too foofy for me, plus it's silver, which I don't really want.

"Yank" is the term for American over there. It's sort of affectionate. The British tend to view us as great big kids who somehow went out into the world and made good in spite of ourselves, I think. You should hear my British friends here do their imitations of American tourists - exclaiming "Oh, my Gahhhhhhhhhhd!" at everything. Very funny, and spot-on, actually.

9-8-2008-15-14-16--danemodsandy.jpg
 
Only a

Southerner would understand the name issue with me......

Sandy, it seems many table articles have fallen out of use. The Victorian period gave us so many wondeful table serving items. In the antebellum period we even had a special serving peice for fried chicken. I enjoy being able to lay the table with all the correct articles in place. Either in coin or plate (coin as a preference). And there must be at least a set of Old Paris on the table if you don't have Derby or Minton.
 
Greg:

Despite being a modernist, I share your affection for the more advanced permutations of eatin' irons.

I probably have the only fish knives and forks in my ZIP code, and surely the only escargot forks and tongs. Butter knives (they are not called "butter spreaders", except perhaps by people who refer to curtains as "drapes"), iced tea spoons, pastry forks, and bouillon spoons are minimal evidences of civilisation with me, not things to be admired in antique shops and passed by. It's amazing how much such things can do to turn eating into dining.

Fortunately for my modern turn of mind, America's Oneida sold many of its patterns in the U.K. as well as here in the States. That means you can get things like fish knives and forks, as well as side knives and coffee spoons, to match American place pieces. You just have to keep a sharp eye on eBay.
 
I target estate sales

and look for coin silver. Asparagus tongs, tomato server, grape shears and a nice set of fish servers have turned up in the past couple of years. My partner gave me a set of marrow spoons a few years ago (New York, 1760s). I scored a set of fruit knives, circa 1868 recently still in the original case for under 20 bucks. They were listed as "butter knives" on the tag!

You are right, it turns dinning into an experience to have the proper table articles.
 
Greg:

I'm afraid we now have two generations in this country that are unable to cope with any food they don't have to unwrap first. I have often looked on in horror when people bedecked in diamonds and Rolexes reveal that they have no clue how to conduct themselves in a fine restaurant.

I think we lost the battle the first time someone got away with picking up fried chicken in a white-tablecloth restaurant without being forcibly ejected from the place.
 
Tall tale?

I read this years ago, I have NO idea if it is true or not, but it makes sense to me.

To anyone from below the Mason-Dixon Line, a "Yankee" is anyone above the Mason-Dixon Line.

To anyone above the Mason-Dixon Line, a "Yankee" is a New Englander.

To a New Englander, a "Yankee" is someone who eats apple pie with a wedge of sharp Cheddar for breakfast.

Lawrence/Maytagbear
 
Yankees and Tall Tales

I'm sure there is a lot of truth to it.

To many Brits we will always be "Yankees", even Southerners are Yankees to the Brits...that is just the way it is.

Many years ago when I was in the Army and stationed in Frankfurt a couple of buddies of mine and myself took a long weekend trip to London. One of the guys with us was from Alabama, well he asked a shopkeeper for directions and when she was finished giving us directions she said, "You Yanks have a wonderful trip". Well, the fellow from Alabama got quite upset and told the shopkeeper that he wasn't a "Yank", the shopkeeper replied, "You will always be a Yankee to us".

He did not like that one bit.

She did have a point, and that is that the term predates the Civil War...the War Between the States, The War of Northern Aggression, or whatever one chooses to call it.
 
Rhyming slang

In Australia, Americans (north and south) are sometimes called "septics".

Rhyming slang - Septic Tank = Yank.

It is not being offensive, we Aussies have a mischievous sense of humour and enjoy poking a stick at anyone who might be taking themselves a bit too seriously.

Chris
 
Well, I love a nice assortment of flatware, and own more than a few pieces. I've not seen lemon forks in anything but sterling in quite a while. Have you looked at some of the plain sterling patterns like Towle Craftsman and Gorham Fairfax. I use a 1930's set of sterling every day and put it in the dishwasher. As long as it is used, I don't hardly polish it at all. Maybe once or twice a year the fork tines get polished. My teenage boys do that little chore for me. They do know the difference between a cereal bowl and a soup plate, and can polish silver! Someone will thank me for that some day! ;-)

I do have that Old Hall Service pictured above!! I love it!
 
Massaging and shaking are all well and good, but there is nothing wrong with a situation that escalates into yanking once in a while, IMO . . .

Interesting subject, as when we had the recent estate sale here and a lot of my mom's hostess/serving items and an entire service for 12 of Lennox (mostly never used) were up for grabs (sorry, casual entertaining is the general rule in our household) the guy doing the pricing advised that none of this stuff commands a high price anymore, as formal entertaining is a practice from another generation. As it was, the Lennox went for full price within 15 minutes after the sale started on day one. So much for his opinion.
 
From another

generation.....really. How sad.

We still enjoy laying out the table on a daily basis. This is from last December, we like to have friends over a lot between the holidays. This is our typical Sunday table. For special occasions the silver and linens come out. Life is to short to eat on the run. And many hands make light work of putting it together and for clean up. Personally I like the idea of maintaining standards for the household. It's not for everyone I know. It works for us and there is not a stiff formality about it all. Good manners and standards tend to give a relaxed feel when done right.

9-9-2008-12-22-6--oldhouseman.jpg
 
Greg:

What a beautiful table - I'm sure you and your friends must have many happy memories centered around it already, with many more to come.

I would like to point out that you ain't replaced Miss Ellen's portieres yet. ;-)
 
Dear Rob, Ray, and Karmann:

Rob and Ray:

If either of you have a stainless lemon fork, I'd be very grateful to hear about it. PayPal or anything else you need would work for me.

Karmann:

I envy you that Old Hall set - I'm working on one of my own. Because modernist design from the U.K. didn't make it over here nearly as much as I feel it deserved to, Old Hall is scarce in the States, but it'll happen. I hear you about a sterling lemon fork, and I had considered the option, but sterling and stainless are not a good mix for me. Since I used to work with housewares and tabletop professionally, the colour of white metals (silver, stainless, tin, aluminium, etc.) jumps out at me in a way it does not for most people. Sterling is blue-white; stainless has a slightly brownish cast, so the two do not match at all to my overly critical eye. I do appreciate the idea!
 
One More Idea:

Our friends across the pond are the ones who might know about this, so bear with me:

What about souvenirs of the Coronation (1953) or the Festival of Britain (1951)? Both these events had a lot of souvenir plates, tea caddy spoons, teacups, beakers, etc. It seems to me that someone might have made a lemon fork with one of those little enamel medallions on it, with King George or the present Queen in profile - you know the sort of thing I mean.

At any rate, it's an idea. I can't find anything by Googling, but that doesn't mean much. If anyone knows of anything like this, I'd be happy to hear of it.
 
Greg, my partner does enjoy doing up a table on occasion and over the years we've laid out some nice ones for Thanksgiving and the like with a more sentimental set of my mom's 1936 Sears china, but not on the regular basis that you do. I admire your traditional values and hope that I can someday pay you a visit and learn a few things . . . The most I do on a daily basis is to make sure there is a folded napkin out for each of us.

Ralph
 
Danesmodsandy

Your reference to Oneida Stainless steel cutlery being sold in the UK is quite true. My grandmother had a few pieces for day-to-day use. Most of the pieces have a scroll pattern with an occasional flower breaking the scroll, at the edge.

There are a couple of place-settings that have an 'Art-deco 3-winged' pattern; kind of brings to my mind the design of the Chrysler Building, etc.

I wonder if the Oneida was sold loose, as the set she had always gave me the impression of mix & match (no teaspoons). Maybe she collected coupons at the supermarket; the Co-Op supermarket was typical of giving vouchers to trade against crockery, crystal goblets, etc. Or maybe the petrol stations had a similar offer going. Or maybe Woolworths sold them individually. Who knows.

She also had (which I now have), a set of gold-plated "24 Karat Electroplate" cutlery, bought in the US, circa early 1970s. Made by Lifetime Cutlery Corporation.
 
DANESMODSANDY-
I picked up my Old Hall Tea Connaught Tea Service in an auction. It was in a box lot I got for about $20. Sold the rest of it in my shop, but fell in love with that set and kept it. I frequently go to English import auctions, so I'll keep an eye out for any of the Old Hall pieces and a stainless lemon fork. One never knows what is in the bottom of those box lots!

Karmann
 

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