803 



SfiUVENIR SPOONS. 



sion the extension of the Illinois Central into 

 the Black Hills country ; that of the Chicago, St. 

 Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha to Niobrara or 

 Yankton ; that of the Fremont, Elkhorn and Mis- 

 souri Valley to West Niobrara ; and a line to con- 

 nect Yankton with the Nebraska system of the 

 Northwestern passing through Cedar and Knox 

 Counties ; while the Rapid City and Missouri 

 River and St. Paul is expected to have cars run- 

 ning into the Black Hills before another winter. 

 A bill was introduced into Congress to author- 

 ize the construction of a drawbridge across the 

 Missouri at Yankton by a company incorporated 

 for that purpose, for the use of any or all rail- 

 ways constructed to cross the river at that point, 

 and also for wagons and pedestrians ; it was re- 

 ferred to the Committee on Commerce. 



Special Election. Hon. John R. Gamble, 

 one of the representatives of the State in Con- 

 gress, died at Yankton, Aug. 14, 1891. The 

 Governor issued a proclamation on the 26th 

 calling for a special election to be held Nov. 3. 

 The Republicans nominated John L. Jolley, of 

 Clay County ; the Democrats, James M. Woods, 

 of Rapid City ; and the Independents, Henry W. 

 Smith, of Wayne. The election resulted as fol- 

 low : Jolley, 17,614 : Smith, 14,587 : Woods, 7,- 

 188. The new (Australian) election law was 

 tried at this election with good success. 



SOUVENIR SPOONS. No fad of recent 

 times has advanced so rapidly and taken so 

 strong and perhaps permanent a hold as that 

 of souvenir spoons. These medals for they are 

 pieces of metal " bearing devices and inscrip- 

 tions struck or cast to commemorate a person, 

 an institution, or an event " are generally of 

 silver, sometimes with gold bowl, but seldom all 

 of gold. In shape they are usually of coffee, tea, 

 or orange pattern ; sometimes pap, dessert, sher- 

 bet, chocolate, sugar, and bon-bon forms are 

 offered ; while the design at times extends to al- 

 mond scoops, pickle forks, sardine forks, ice- 

 cream forks, child's forks, butter knives, butter 

 spreaders, paper knives, and sugar tongs. 



It is said that the oldest piece of silverware 

 known is a spoon. Before knives or forks were 

 employed the spoon was a household necessity. 

 The derivation of the fad was from Europe, and 

 tourists for many years have collected copies of the 

 celebrated apostles' spoons. Special designs 

 characteristic of places on the Continent have 

 long been known. In the summer of 1887 M. 

 W. Gait, of Washington, D. C., while traveling 

 abroad conceived the idea of applying the fancy 

 to this country, and on his return produced the 

 first Washington spoon, showing the head of the 

 Father of his Country. From the outset the 

 venture proved a success, and a year later Dan- 

 iel Low, of Salem, Mass., brought out his first 

 witch spoon. Thus started, the idea grew until 

 it has extended to everyplace of importance in 

 the country, and even many of the smaller 

 towns have their souvenir spoons. For the most 

 part these spoons chronicle some historical event 

 connected with the locality, or else a character- 

 istic building or scene; failing in these, the 

 memory of some distinguished person is perpet- 

 uated by the spoons. At first the designs were 

 simple, but many are now quite complex. The 

 most interesting spoons are those of the Eastern 

 States, of which the following are representa- 



tive : Newburyport shows the eccentric figure of 

 Lord Timothy Dexter; Plymouth, the landing 

 of the Pilgrims, or else the rock itself; Lynn, 

 Moll Pitcher and her black cat ; Hartford! the 

 Charter Oak ; Springfield, the likeness of her 

 pioneer, Miles Morgan ; 

 Boston, the pot of baked 

 beans ; Cambridge, the 

 statue of John Harvard ; 

 and Portland, her observa- 

 tory. New York has sev- 

 eral designs, one showing 

 the East River Bridge; an- 

 other, the Bartholdi statue ; 

 still another, Peter Stuy- 

 vesant ; while Philadelphia 

 has Independence Hall and 

 Liberty Bell on her spoons. 

 Albany preserves the mem- 

 ory of Diedrich Knicker- 

 bocker; Buffalo shows the 

 head of a bison ; Rochester, 

 her famous Genesee Falls. 

 To the South, Baltimore 

 has her battle monument 

 and the terrapin and oys- 

 ter; Charleston, Fort Sum- 

 ter; and Savannah, Gen. 

 Greene's monument and her 

 City Hall ; while Jackson- 

 ville has an alligator, and 

 St. Augustine the city gates. 

 Atlanta commemorates her 

 orator, Henry W. Grady ; 

 Richmond, the monument 

 of Robert E. Lee ; St. 

 Louis shows the Veiled 

 Prophet; Denver, her Rain- 

 bow Falls; San Francisco, 

 the Golden Gate; Portland, 

 Oregon, Mount Hood ; St. 

 Paul, Fort Snelling; and 

 Minneapolis,the FlourCity, 

 a bag of wheat. For de- 

 scription of these, and il- 

 lustration, see " Souvenir 

 Spoons of America " (New 

 York, 1891). Besides the foregoing there are 

 numerous spoons pertaining to distinguished 

 individuals, as the Ben Butler spoon of Lynn, 

 Mass., the Chauncey M. Depew spoon of Peeks- 

 kill, the Longfellow, Whittier, Gen. Sherman, 

 John Brown, and similar spoons. Perhaps 

 among these should be included the several 

 Christopher Columbus spoons, the Frances 

 E. Willard and Sarah Bernhardt spoons. The 

 Grand Army of the Republic, the Benevolent 

 Order of Elks, the Chautauqua Literary and 

 Scientific Circle, the King's Daughters, and sim- 

 ilar organizations, have special spoons. There 

 are certain State spoons, as that of Kansas with 

 its sheaf of wheat, and the New Jersey with its 

 handle representing a cat-tail, and a mosquito 

 in the bowl. Also there are special national 

 spoons, as the Brother Jonathan, the historical 

 cannon, All America, and Uncle Sam. Spoons 

 with appropriate designs for Easter and for 

 card parties (known as whist and euchre spoons) 

 exist. Several special designs have been made 

 to present at theatres on souvenir nights ; also 

 in several instances they have been used for ad- 



