George Washington is one of the few historical figures which has not been subjected to revisionist historical thinking. He was always considered one of the most important of the founding fathers, and even today his memory as a man of integrity is still highly respected around the globe.
Beautiful full figured enamel spoon of G. Washington
While the Salem Witch Spoon received the bulk of the attention of the American public, historical records show that the Washington D.C. silversmithing firm of Galt Bros. actually patented the first souvenir spoon in this country about a year before the Witch spoon was conceived.
Although George Washington is probably the most admired historical figure, by the public in this country, relatively few of these George Washington spoons by Galt Bros. have survived.
Readers should not get the above statement confused with the many George Washington spoons which have been subsequently made. There are many many variations of spoons showing G. Washington, Mt. Vernon, monuments etc. and combining his image with numerous other themes. Most of these spoons were NOT made by Galt Bros.
This spoon was actually manufactured by the firm of Davis and Galt of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Charles Galt of this firm was related to the Galt Bros. of Washington D.C. To my knowledge, this is the only variation of the Washington spoon to be manufactured by this company. All of the other Galt Bros. spoons which I have seen have the Galt Bros. trademark.
Four other variations of the Galt Bros. Washington Spoon are shown in my book.
George Washington is known as the "father of our country" and we find many souvenir spoons using his image. The left picture shows his house, Mt. Vernon (Virginia), and the bowl shows the burial site. The middle spoon is the Washington monument in the city named after him, Washington D.C., and the rightmost picture is the reverse of the first spoon and says "First in War, First in Peace, and First in the Heart of his Countrymen".
left: An enameled view of the Washington Monument (at just over 555 feet, this is the tallest structure in Washington D.C. and the law forbids any taller structure from being built)
middle: The Washington Monument forms the handle on this spoon. The bottom has the date 1775, but I am not sure why it is there.
Right: back of the famous cannon handle spoon has an image of the Washington Monument -- sorry for the poor pic. The front of this spoon is shown in the Civil War exhibit.
George and Martha Washington
The Mount Vernon estate has been restored to its 18th century oppulence and may still be visited by the public. In addition it is a great opportunity to learn about the Southern plantation system and the role of slavery in that era.
George Washington portrait with the White House embossed in the bowl. Although Washington never lived in the White House (since it was not built at that time), both images are intimately intertwined with the Presidency.
An interesting 20th century Art Deco spoon honoring George Washington. This applied medallion is soldered onto a conventional sterling spoon.
Washington "Father of His Country"
with a belt wrapped around a sword
This demi sized spoon features a sword handle with
Mount Vernon in the
bowl.
The back of the bowl features a portrait of George.
This sword capitalizes on his association with the Masonic Fraternity
This enameled sword spoon doesn't specifically mention George Washington, but it also capitalizes on the association with the Masonic Fraternity
George Washington riding a horse with his name in
script on the stem.
The very ornate embossed bowl just wouldn't scan nicely because it is
so
deep with an unusual shape, so I will describe it to you. It shows 16
distinct
British soldiers and an officer waiting on a landing and a boat with 5
rowers
who are holding their oars straight up in a salute as another officer
steps
into the boat. There are also two British warships (flying the Union
Jack)
waiting for the men departing the mainland. The date Nov. 25 is shown
in
a rope like script at the top of the bowl and the year 1783 is shown at
the
bottom of the bowl. It is incredible that there is this much detail in
a
small spoon bowl
Peace was officially proclaimed on April 19, 1783, but the last British
soldiers
departed on November 25. At that time Washington’s troops entered
New
York City.
The back of the stem has this neat skyline view of "New Amsterdam 1656"
More information on this scene is available under the torture spoon exhibit (from the main page)
the back of the bowl has this round coat of arms insignia
The spoon was made by Towle and patented in 1891.
This very nice full figural spoon of Washington is detailed on both sides. I thought the "pony tail" in the back was quite cute.
The enameled bowl was custom made for the Washington Chapter #43 of the Cleveland Knights in 1910 by Shepard Mfg.
This spoon shows George cutting down a cherry tree. Below that picture is his likeness and then an axe. The bowl has a picture of the Capitol building in Washington DC and the back of the handle has a picture of Mt. Vernon. This is the common story about George Washington refusing to lie. The whole story is a fabrication. There is absolutely no record of this story in the historical literature until the 1880's when a textbook publisher included the story in a biography of George so as to teach children a lesson in honesty. This story has become part of the social fabric of our nation and is still being taught to children even today. (Is there a disconnect here? Creating a fictitious story to teach truth telling?). Nevertheless, it is an interesting spoon.
Nice detailed picture of Mt. Vernon. The spoon is from the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry
which capitalized on Washington's membership in that organization.
This cast spoon features the image of George Washington standing in the boat as it is rowed across the river.