SOS: British Contingent Help Needed!

[karmann]

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!

 

[rayjay]

Lemon Fork

Sandy Let me check and see what I have. I have a lot of flatware. I will let you know.

Ray

 

[rp2813]

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.

 

[oldhouseman]

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.

 

[danemodsandy]

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. ;-)

 

[danemodsandy]

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!

 

[danemodsandy]

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.

 

[rp2813]

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

 

[conate]

I know nothing of lemon forks...

...even though I drink tea, but try this link:

Pardon Our Interruption...

 

[rolls_rapide]

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.

 

[karmann]

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

 

[danemodsandy]

Hmm....

Rolls_Rapide:

Oneida sold their cutlery both loose and in sets. You're quite right about Woolworth's, they sold the cheaper ranges loose at 5 cents (later 10 cents) per piece. "Oceanic" was the pattern most often sold this way, on both sides of the pond.

Karmann:

I envy you that "Connaught"! The shipping alone on a set coming from the U.K. is about twice what you paid. You did very well. If you ever get a chance to post pics, I'd love to see them. There are three major variations on "Connaught" over the years. The photo I posted earlier in this thread shows the last one, with the double handle. Before that, "Connaught" had a single handle in this same shape, and the first version had a single handle without the sharp angle in it. All are collectible. "Connaught" (designed by Leslie Wiggin) was available in a range of sizes, and in a polished or brushed finish. It was the biggest seller Old Hall ever had, even after Robert Welch was hired as designer and began winning award after award for his work.

conate:

That's the lemon fork pattern I'm trying to avoid, the one with three splayed tines is the one I'm looking for. That looks almost like an escargot (snail) fork. I do appreciate your finding it - I hadn't seen that eBay auction.

 

[danemodsandy]

Update for Karmann:

Karmann:

I just won an eBay auction for a service of Connaught. It's the uncommon first version with the original single rounded handle, not the angled one that is seen on the second version, nor the double handle of the last one. Hot water jug (coffee pot in American usage) is a bit small at 1-3/4 pints, but a larger one will turn up eventually. What's important is that I have the tea things!