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Day 174 – The Vancouver Spoon

Captain George Vancouver was born in Norfolk, England on June 22 in 1757. (I’m a day late!)

Captain Vancouver is most famous for exploring and charting the Pacific Northwest coastline from 1791 to 1795. He leaves behind two cities that bear his name, one in southwest Washington State and the other in British Columbia, Canada (where they also named an island after him).


This spoon is from the Canadian city of Vancouver and was in a collection my friend Kim gave me. I’ve seen the exact same design of spoon for at least three other places (Santa Fe, New Mexico, and the states of Nevada and Arizona). I’m no art doctor, but I’m pretty sure it’s not representative of any artwork from the Northwest Coast tribes. 

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Day 173 – The Denver Spoon

I’ve spent the last two days in Centennial, Colorado, just outside of Denver. 

I’d love to go visit all of the places featured on my antique spoons, if the places still exist, and one that’s been on my list is the Denver Auditorium, shown in the bowl of this antique spoon. Didn’t make it this trip. Maybe next time!


The Denver Auditorium was built in 1908 and the very first event in July of that year was the Democratic Convention (William Jennings Bryan was the party’s nominee. He lost to William Howard Taft in the general election.)

The Auditorium has been through many changes over the years. Its decorative domes on each corner were removed in the 1950s and in 1978 it was remodeled into a performing arts center. In 2002 it was renamed the Quigg Newton Denver Municipal Auditorium, which is part of the larger Denver Performing Arts Center—or “The Plex,” as the kids call it. 

This spoon has a maker’s mark from the Baker-Manchester Company of Providence, Rhode Island. 


I’ve had a hard time tracking down when exactly this company was in business, but most sources say they operated under this name from 1904 to 1914. I’d venture a guess that this spoon dates to somewhere between 1908 and 1915.

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Day 172 – The Teen Prince William Spoon

I think I speak for everyone when I say that I’m thankful that I did not have to suffer through having a photo of me during my awkward teenage years immortalized on a horrible, gold tone, electroplated souvenir spoon like poor Prince William, here. 

Through some fancy Google image searching, I managed to find the original photo they used at the top. It was taken at an August 16, 1997 photocall with his father, Prince Charles, and brother, Prince Harry, at the family’s residence in Balmoral, Scotland. William was 15 years old.
The spoon appears to commemorate the day of his birth, June 21, 1982. Happy Birthday, Wills!