The Silver Spoon Mania at this months Brown Bag Lunch

DeKalb County residents were part of a national phenomenon from 1891 to the beginning of the First World War: the commissioning and collecting of sterling silver souvenir spoons. On Thursday. September 3rd, 2015, as part of the Sycamore History Museum’s Brown Bag lunch, Richard Cooler will share his knowledge and passion connected to these souvenir silver spoons.

This mania was encouraged through the Chicago Worlds Fair of 1893, The Columbian Exposition, where over 40,000 souvenir spoons were sold. Several of these spoons are on display in SHM’s exhibit, “Connecting a Community: How one railroad shaped a small town.”

In DeKalb County, the spoons commemorated major community buildings such as the court House, the Post Office, the schools, and many churches whose outlines were engraved with impressive, minute detail into the bowl of each spoon.

Since the bowl of a spoon is concave, it was a daunting challenge to engrave. So, difficult in fact, there is no one today what carries on this exacting tradition. Nevertheless, these spoons were exquisitely realized by an engraver using a special Bright Engraving technique that allowed light to enliven the design by flickering across a pattern. The spoons to be shown have been magnified, photographed and will be projected as part of the presentation. While some spoons display rare images of buildings that have since been razed, others depict buildings that are proud reminders of the progressive past of our constantly developing community.

The Brown Bag Lunch is from 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm at the Sycamore History Museum, 1730 N. Main St. in Sycamore. The event is free but donations are always welcome.