Here’s another spoon to commemorate Queen Elizabeth’s reign: The QEII Sheffield Silver Jubilee Sugar Spoon, made in 1977 for her 25th anniversary as Queen of England and the Commonwealth.
Day 156 – The Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Sugar Spoon
Day 147 – The RMS Queen Mary Spoon
This spoon, with a beautiful enameled piece at the top, is an original souvenir from the ocean liner R.M.S. Queen Mary, most likely sold on board after WWII, possibly in the 1950s.
On May 27, 1936 the Queen Mary, named after Mary of Teck, sailed her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City. She was the jewel in the crown of the Cunard White Star Line’s luxury transatlantic voyages from 1936-1939.
During World War II, her six miles of carpet, 220 cases of china, crystal and silver service, tapestries and paintings were removed and stored in warehouses and she was repainted navy grey, while she was used for transporting troops (up to 15,000 at a time) from Australia and New Zealand to England.
After the war, the Queen Mary returned to service, but was ultimately retired in 1967 and is now docked in Long Beach, California, used as a hotel, dining, and entertainment venue.
Important to note: The Queen Mary is also one of the top 10 most haunted places in America. Spooky!
Day 141 – The Shakespeare Spoon
Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire, England is probably best known as the birthplace (and final resting place) of famous playwright and poet, William Shakespeare. It’s just 8 miles southwest of Warwick, which I featured in an earlier post about Warwick Castle.
This spoon was crafted by Levi and Salaman of Birmingham, England in 1911, and while the bowl of the spoon clearly has an engraving with Shakespeare’s portrait, the handle says “Stratford-ON-Avon,” not “Stratford-upon-Avon.”
Apparently, the former is the local government district which uses the preposition “on” to distinguish itself from the latter, which is the main town and the location of the district headquarters. However, this doesn’t explain why the spoon carries this name, since the Stratford-on-Avon district wasn’t formed until 1974. After looking at current websites, travel guides, and early 20th century maps, I can only guess that they use the two names interchangeably?
Anyway, it’s a nice spoon. And as you can see, it’s a nice day in Seattle. The sunshine is back, at least for the next week. Maybe it’s time for a round of National Park spoons to get us ready for outdoor life again?