Pewter spoons have been made for hundreds of years. In the 1400's - late 1700's, silver was too expensive for most people, so pewter was used as a substitute.
By the early 1800's pewter was no longer used for spoons as other cheaper metals were available.
Pewter is a gray metal which is now an alloy of copper and antimony, however the older pewter spoons were made from tin and lead.
It is NOT safe to eat food made with lead.
After 1950, some manufacturers were using pewter for souvenir or decorative spoons (not for eating)
These are some cute souvenir spoons which were donated to the Spoon Museum by the estate of William L. Skinner.
Modern pewter souvenir spoons are not rare nor expensive, and they are often heavy for their size and have nice three dimensional finials and bowls.
1. Dallas, Texas spoon featuring a huge building?
2. Busch Gardens, Williamsburg, Va. featuring the famous beer wagon being pulled by Clydesdale horses. Also the American eagle finial
3. Connecticut, featuring a sailing ship and a whale in the bowl
4. Busch Gardens with a Clydesdale horse finial and 'The Old Country' in the bowl
5. Louisiana, featuring a pelican finial and a lobster in the bowl
1. Bermuda, with a sailing ship finial and a hut in the bowl
2. Florida featuring a pelican in the bowl and the finial
3. Gettysburg featuring a cannon finial and crossed flag bowl
4. Plymouth, Mass. featuring a sailing ship finial and the famous "Plymouth Rock (1620) " bowl
5. Busch Gardens, featuring a Clydesdale finial, beer barrel handle, and Busch insignia bowl
1. Natchez, New Orleans, La. featuring a paddle steam ship finial and an alligator in the bowl
2. Hershey, Pa. featuring a cute Hershey kiss finial, 'chocolate' on the stem' and state outline in the bowl.
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