Salem Witch Spoon Sterling Daniel Low Second Pattern Gorham Souvenir 1891

When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

Salem Witch Spoon Sterling Daniel Low Second Pattern Gorham Souvenir 1891:
$289.00

Second Pattern Daniel Low \"Salem Witch Spoon\", ca. 1891. Manufactured for The Daniel Low Co. by Gorham. Sterling silver.

Seth Low designed the First Pattern Witch Spoon for his father\'s company,ca. 1890. This spoon was manufactured for Low by the William B. Durgin Co. It was an immediatesuccess andled Low to design another souvenir spoonthat was manufactured by Gorham and became known as the Daniel Low Second Pattern Witch Spoon. These spoons are credited with causing the souvenir spoon collecting craze of the 1890s.

The spoon appears to be in excellent condition. It is approximately 4 1/8\" - 4 1/4\" long. In order to preserve the patina, wedid not clean the spoon.

Our # PL-E-HM-041305 Witch.

More HISTORY:

The making of souvenirspoons started in Europe in the mid-1850s.
M.W. Galt and Seth F. Low (son of Daniel Low) are credited with
bringing this idea to the U.S., launching a collecting craze that lasted
for 30 years and continues to be popular today.M.W. Galt Bro. & Co. made the first souvenir spoon in the United
States in 1889. It was the George Washington spoon and it was shortly
followed by the Martha Washington spoon.But it was the Daniel Low Co. that really got the souvenir spoon industry rollingin 1890. Seth F. Low
designed the Salem Witch Spoon for his father\'s company, and it wasmanufactured by the William B.
Durgin Co. The Daniel Low Co. then launched a huge sales campaign for thespoon, running full page ads
in newspapers across the U.S. The spoon was an immediate success. The Salem Witch spoon turned out to be so popular that other flatware pieceswere made in the Witch design
such as gravy ladles, butter knives, sardine forks - 15 pieces in all.The Salem Witch spoon was quickly
followed up with a second pattern which Daniel Low had made by TheGorham Co. These two
spoons are now known as the \"First Pattern\" and \"SecondPattern\" designs.By mid-1891, hundreds of souvenir spoon patterns were being produced, withdesigns commemorating
things such as U.S. cities and towns, famous people, current and historicalevents, schools, animals,
flowers - anything that could be imagined.

THE \"WITCH\" SPOONFirst PatternThis spoon was the first to be made from a special die, of a design suggestiveof some particular place, and it has since become the most celebrated of thesouvenir spoons. On the handle is the figure of a Reg. Trade-Mark. Witch, theword \" Salem,\" and three witch pins, of the same size and shape asthose preserved in the Court House, at Salem. Here also may be seen many of theoriginal documents relating to the witchcraft trials, among them the deathwarrant of Bridget Bishop. Salem and its surrounding towns were among theearliest settlements in America, and is of more interest historically than anyother section of this country. Salem is visited every year by an increasingnumber of people to see the old landmarks and its old houses, especially thoseconnected with the witchcraft delusion. The Roger Williams House, better knownas the old \"witch house,\" this house was built for Roger Williams,minister of the First Church from 163 1 to 1635, and in its rooms traditionsays were held preliminary examinations of those charged with witchcraft in1692. This is the oldest house standing in Salem, or in this section. SamuelShattuck\'s house, built before 1660, figures in the witchcraft trials. GallowsHill was the scene of the nineteen executions. \"The place of execution wasa high hill,\" says Hawthorne, \"on the outskirts of Salem, so thatmany of the sufferers, as they stood beneath the gallows, could discern theirown habitations in the town; but the martyrdom of these guiltless personsseemed only to increase the madness.\"Salem is so well known the world over, and so many of her sons and daughtersare to be found in every State, that this spoon has had the largest sale of anyof the souvenir spoons. \"One of the presents received by Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes on hiseighty-first birthday was a gold-lined silver spoon, the handle of which bearsa witch on a broomstick, the word \' Salem, and the emblematic witch pinscrossed. It came from a lady as a token of Dr. Holmes\'s latest poem, the \'Broomstick Train.\" Boston Evening Transcript.This pattern is made only in sterling silver and in a great variety of pieces.These are of very desirable shapes and of the finest workmanship. They are madeonly by Daniel Low, 231 Essex Street, Salem, Mass. His establishment is on thecorner of the two principal streets, in the First Church Building. The FirstCongregational Society is one of the oldest in America, their first churchbeing erected on that same spot in 1634.Source: Souvenir Spoons - George B. James Jnr. - 1891

THE\"WITCH\" SPOONSecond PatternOne of the most curious facts in the history of our early colonial times wasthe Salem witchcraft delusion. Every nation at some time has peculiarsuperstitions, but at this period of the world\'s history the entireEnglish-speaking community seems to have been crazed over the subject ofwitchcraft.
In Salem, Mass., nineteen persons were hanged for witchcraft ; eight more werecondemned, and fifty confessed themselves to be witches, and were pardoned in1692. Many books have been written regarding this peculiar state of the humanmind that would allow people to avow themselves to be what they
absolutely knew they were not. Old and ill-favored women were suspected andaccused of practising sorcery ; while even the governor\'s wife, Lady Phipps,did not suffer to escape from the general accusations. At last the spell wasbroken, and a large number of the accusers came forward and publicly publishedsolemn recantations of the truth of their testimony, while the public, beingthen thoroughly aroused over the innocence of the accused, were only saved fromdoing violence to the accusers by their denials of the truth of theirtestimony. At the Court House in Salem one may see a bottle containing theoriginal pins which were used in the trials where the accuser swore that thatpin was used on him as a means of torture by a witch. Here are also preservedthe death warrants returned by the sheriff, as executed, and other documents ofsimilar interest. A second pattern of the famous Witch Spoon has\' been made; on the handle areall the features connected with the witchcraft delusion ; the place and date,the cat, the broom, the rope, the witch pins, the new moon, and, surmountingall, the witch. The reverse side carries out the idea of the front, making aspoon of heavy weight, but of such good shape that it can be conveniently used.The Orange Spoon, with its deep bowl and sharp point, being especiallypracticable. These are made in sterling silver of a very heavy weight and ofthe finest workmanship.Source: Souvenir Spoons - George B. James Jnr. - 1891