Pilgrim Spoons

There really are not too many spoons about the holiday of Thanksgiving. The members of my club were unable to find any spoons dealing directly with the holiday, although a few with engraved inscriptions were found. There is also a postcard available which shows a Thanksgiving feast and also features a spoon.

Therefore, I have decided to make this spoon about the Pilgrims, since they supposedly had the first Thanksgiving dinner.

This spoon shows "Plymouth rock" where according to legend the Pilgrims first landed. Other variations are also available.

Another version of the Landing of the Pilgrims in 1620

John Alden was an English Puritan pilgrim who sailed on the Mayflower (1620) to North America. At the Plymouth colony, in 1623 he married Priscilla Mullens, another Pilgrim. He is also known as a signatory of the Mayflower Compact and as the longest lived pilgrim. This tea sized spoon features his wife "Priscilla" knocking on a door which is marked "Lord have mercy on us". This spoon has a citrus bowl but it is also available with a standard bowl and in a demi version. Patented by Durgin March 24, 1891 thus it was one of the very first souvenir spoons.


English Plymouth Pilgrim Spoon

This spoon is about the Pilgrims leaving Plymouth, England

The finial of this spoon shows a pilgrim holding the Holy Bible to his chest and underneath it says "Plymouth". The back of the finial also has the date "1620"

The busy embossed scene shows a boatload of pilgrims praying while leaving a castle in a small row boat while a larger sailboat (the Mayflower) sits in the harbor

The back of the bowl shows a coat of arms with the latin motto "Turris fortissima est nom Jehova" which roughly translates as "the name of Jehova is my strength". This is the coat of arms for the city of Plymouth, England.

This spoon is marked rg 433575 and is further marked with London sterling hallmarks for 1904.

A figural finial of Evangeline from a Longfellow poem. This unusual version is different from the one shown in my book. I suspect that it was custom hand made made by J. Cornelius. My book does not show such a silversmith but it does show a C. Cornelius (1810-1819) of Philadelphia. I suspect that this spoon is by his great grandson. It is also engraved "Grand Pre (Nova Scotia, Canada) in the bowl.

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