(prices, Roger Bros., Presidents, Cartoons, Rolex , Italy , spoon racks and more)
Why are there no prices on the spoons?
The spoon museum resides on a computer owned by Geocities/Yahoo. They provide free web space, thus they get to set the rules. One of their rules is that I can't provide you with a price on a spoon. They would consider this an advertisement to sell.
Many of the spoons (but not all) are available for sale or trade. You can send me an email and ask for further details.
I have a spoon (s) which says Roger Bros. 1847. Is it valuable?
No. All of these spoons are silver plated (a thin layer of silver is put on a base metal spoon). The year is when the company was founded. There are millions of these spoons available. They are usually priced at less than $1.00.
I have a spoon (s) which has a President shown.
You can learn more about them by clicking President Spoons
I just inherited some souvenir spoons. How can I determine value?
Unfortunately, there is no easy way. For American spoons you can consult my book for current retail values. For non-American spoons or older spoons you will have to talk to an expert. If you have questions about one or two spoons, I can help you if you email me a jpg picture and describe the marks. If you have a lot of spoons, I can only advise you if you are willing to pay for my time. If you do not want to spend the time and effort, I am willing to buy entire collections. Obviously I must do this at wholesale as I will then try to resell at a small profit.
I have spoons with Mickey Mouse on them. How much are they worth.
There are many spoons with Disney characters as well as other cartoon characters including many that are almost 100 years old. My book shows the prices of many of these spoons. Most of them are silver plated and have a value of under $15.00. In many cases the value is under $5.00.
I would like to buy a spoon rack. Where do I find one.
It is quite common to see spoon racks for sale at antique stores and flea markets. These commonly sell between $10 and $50 depending on size, quality of wood etc. It is also possible to buy new spoon racks from some stores which import items from Asia and some catalog mail order houses also sell them in a variety of styles. Any cabinet maker can manufacture a spoon rack to your specifications. There are also several manufacturers of spoon racks on the internet. You should do a search for them.
I have a spoon marked "Rolex". Is it valuable?
No. There are at least 8 different varieties of these Rolex advertising spoons. They were given away as free souvenirs by hotels in Switzerland (they were placed on the pillow like a mint). There are hundreds of thousands of these silver plated spoons available. Prices typically (retail) are under $15, although if the owner really wishes to sell them, they should be priced under $10. I have even seen them priced at 25-35 dollars, although I can't figure out why anyone would pay that much money. None of the varieties are valuable.
I have a series of spoons from the New York World Fair of 1939. What is the value of these?
These silver plated spoons are fairly common and are priced between $1 and $10 each at antique stores. If I were a buyer, I would be looking at the low end of this range. A set from the Chicago World Fair of 1933 is also available. The price comments are about the same. A set of silver-plated demi spoons from the Chicago World Fair of 1893 is also available. These are usually priced at about $5 ea.
click to see the Chicago World Fair spoon exhibit
click to see the New York World Fair spoon exhibit
I have some very unusual looking spoons that are marked "Italy". They look very old. What are they worth?
I hate to "burst your bubble", but these spoons are made from a very cheap
form of pewter and were imported into the USA in very large quantities after
World War ll. Sometimes this pewter is "gold plated". I will agree that they
are unusual looking and would make an interesting display, but they are not
old, rare or valuable
($1 - $10 depending on size, shape and gullibility of the buyer)
click to see some of these Italian Pewter Spoons
How do I bookmark the museum?
This is fairly easy, depending on which browser you use. When you are at the main page, click "favorites" or "bookmarks". Then click "add". The next time you wish to visit the museum, simply find the bookmark in your list and click it.
Why do you not show the entire spoon?
The current state of the internet is such that many people download information using a dial up modem (including me). This is fairly slow. Thus to speed up the access I have eliminated the parts of the spoon which are not relevant to the story. Also in some cases the spoon bowls are plain, and I am sure that we all know what they look like. Many of the pictures have also been enlarged so that you can see details. When the whole spoon is shown it takes too much space on the screen.