We all have a silverware drawer. Usually we have a matching set or two sets of silverware, but we all seem to have that one spoon or one fork that we don’t know where it came from. Did someone leave it during a party? Did you use a friend’s and forget to return it? Did you think it was yours and grabbed it by mistake? However it happened, it happens! Do you have that one random utensil and find that it’s your favorite?
Well, I have two matching silverware sets, one for each of our two silverware drawers (highly recommend doing!). And there is this one spoon that I just love. It’s the perfect size, the smaller one sometimes called the teaspoon. This spoon is the perfect weight and has a smooth finish, I just love it! Every time it’s cleaned, I have to use it.
I wanted to look it up on Amazon to possibly purchase a whole set. I looked on the back of the spoon and in the teeny-tiny print was stamped, “WMF Cromargan Germany.” Hmmm, so I looked it up — WOW! I love history and this was pretty interesting, according to Wikipedia.
“WMF was originally called Metallwarenfabrik Straub & Schweizer and was opened as a metal repairing workshop. Through mergers and acquisitions, by 1900 they were the world’s largest producer and exporter of household metalware, mainly in the Jugendstil, or Art Nouveau style.”
One acquisition was of a Polish metalware factory. At one point, the company employed over 3,500 people. Other acquisitions were of companies that specialized in “electrotyping and electroforming of statues and statuettes for buildings, fountains, tombstones, and gardens” and also “reproductions of large-scale Italian Renaissance bronze works for an American clientele.”
“In 1955, WMF started production of commercial coffee machines. These products were designed for restaurants, military mess halls, cruise ships and other commercial applications.”
This information may not be that interesting to some, but I thought it was pretty neat. Then I looked up prices to purchase a set because I like that spoon so much. Ummm, I won’t be purchasing a set in my near future! A serving set for 12 costs more than $750! WHAT?! I knew I had expensive taste, but my goodness! It’s a beautiful spoon, but looks like an ordinary plain, basic spoon.
I’m going to start looking more closely at the silverware at garage sales that are sold for a couple dollars a set, or even single pieces. I guess you never know what you’ll find unless you do some digging.
So, to the person who is reading this and missing a spoon, I apologize. Or maybe I had the whole set and you took it all and left me with one spoon? Haha!
Happy hunting!
