World fairs were designed to show the best in human achievements. Major exhibitions of arts, business, agriculture, humanities, cultures and customs were highlighted in large cities. The study of these intriguing events is a topic onto itself. Many beautiful souvenir spoons were designed for some of these magnificent events.
The Chicago world fair was precedent setting. It established a pattern for all future world fairs and contributed immeasurably to the future direction of this country and the world. You will be surprised by the number of things which we take for granted today that were first highlighted by this world fair.
The 1893 Columbian World Fair in Chicago was one of the major impetuses for the collecting of silver souvenir spoons. In 1892, the fantastic "great white city" opened amid economic devastation in an economy that was described as a "monetary panic". Yet it is estimated that more varieties of souvenir spoons were created for this fair than for any other single event in history.
Because so many spoons were created for this world fair, I have created a separate exhibition series of
A number of other major expositions and more localized fairs were held and souvenir spoons were created for each of these events. The pieces shown here are not meant to be exhaustive, but merely to show some of the tremendous variety of spoons that are available to spoon and exposition collectors.
The California Mid-Winter Fair was held in San Francisco in 1894
Hand made spoon from San Francisco, 1894 with a bear embossed bowl
This spoon is a replica of the ceremonial shovel which was used by the Director General to turn the first spade of dirt in anticipation of the mid-winter fair on Aug 24, 1893. The shovel has a scene of the Golden Gate and the finial is a replica of the California Seal.
Atlanta, Georgia 1895-96
The Cotton States Exposition was a little expo held in Atlanta in 1896. There are very few spoons from this expo.
This "king cotton" enamel spoon is the nicest one from this expo. It is available in tea and demi size
right: silver plated symbols from the fair, bowl pictures the cotton palace
Silverplated advertising spoon from the small Trans Mississippi expo held
in Omaha in 1898
This spoon is advertising Fleischmann & Co. yeast
A Scottish Thistle adorns this Paris expo spoon
The Pont Alexandrie was a marvelously decorated bridge built for this exposition
buffalo symbol from the fair (rebus)
These are the "Official Louisiana Purchase Spoons". So many varieties of spoons were made for the Columbus expo that the organizers tried to monopolize the production of this souvenir. As we shall see--they were not sucessful. Note that both of these spoons have the same handle design (1803-buffalo hunter-covered wagon and campfires, train- 1903). Also note that they are slightly different sizes--they were made from separate dies and one is lighter--thus cheaper to produce. The top one has a picture of the Liberal Arts Building in the bowl and the bottom one has a picture of the Cabildo in the bowl.
These spoons were "unofficial" souvenir spoons from this expo. The top has a hand engraved picture of the "Mach Bldg" (Machinist), the fancy center one has an engraved view of the "Cascade Gardens", one of the fairs highlights and on the handle busts of Jefferson and Napoleon and on the back a bust of Washington. The bottom one has an engraved view of the "Liberal Arts Building"
Machinist Building embossed in the bowl. The finial has a steamship and a portrait of Pierre Laclede Liguist the founder of St. Louis. The Back shows the Eads Bridge.
engraved view of the "Liberal Arts Building"
engraved view of the Palace of Textiles. It is dated 1904, but it looks like 1901. The engraving on this spoon is very nice, unfortunately the bowl is damaged.
The "Lewis and Clark" expo in Portland, Oregon in 1905 was to celebrate the achievement of these western pioneers. A number of different spoons were created for this fair.
Symbol of the fair (plated)
The one pictured here is made out of copper (even though it is clearly marked sterling). The Front shows portraits of Lewis and Clark, a monument to them and the Oltnomah Falls and the back has various symbols for the home city of Portland. The bowl shows a statue of Sacajawea, the indian maiden who guided the exploration party including the baby which she bore on the trip. Note: the new U.S. Sacajawea golden dollar is based upon this indian guide.
The Alaska Yukon Purchase Exhibition of Seattle, Washington 1909 produced a number of very interesting spoons. A separate exhibit has been set up to show these and other gold spoons from Alaska. Click here to see these spoons.
San Francisco-San Diego (1915)
The 1915 San Francisco-Panama Canal exposition was a major exposition to honor the opening of the Panama Canal and celebrate the "riches" of California. A variety of spoons are available from this magnificent exposition and the San Diego exposition. The spoons for this fair have been expanded and combined with Panama Canal spoons and placed in a separate exhibit. Click the picture to see these beautiful and interesting spoons.
Chicago "a Century of Progress"
1933-1934
In the depths of the Great Depression, Chicago tried to recreate the great success of the earlier Columbian World Fair of 1893. They were not entirely successful, but were able to stage a presentable world fair.
Click to see Chicago "Century of Progress" spoons
This "futuristic" Fair opened in New York City just prior to the beginning of World War ll.
The Golden Gate International Exposition was held in San Francisco in 1939. LEFT: This silver-plated art deco nude has extremely long hair which merges into the deco symbol for the fair. The bowl features a view of the Golden Gate bridge and the back is marked as the "official souvenir spoon". This spoon is also available in sterling, but it is very rare. I have an extra spoon if you are interested. The bowl on the sterling spoon is a little different than the one (shown below) on the silver-plated version.
RIGHT: sterling spoon depicting fair buildings. The back has the fair insignia.
This is the bowl for the sterling version of the beautiful nude. The date looks like "59" in the picture, but it actually says ""39".
The spoons shown here are the Official spoons for the Seattle World's Fair and were patented in 1961. The bowls are plain.
These are the only two official sterling spoons that I know about from this fair. The space needle (left) is a well known landmark. The second spoon (front and back) shows various images from the 1962 world fair
The vermeil bowl is engraved "World Fair Seattle 1962" The totem pole spoon is from an old die ca. 1900. The quality of the enamel work is not nearly as good as it should be.
I have never seen a sterling spoon from the Montreal, Canada 1967 expo. This silver plated demi is the only souvenir spoon from this fair of which I am aware.
Some cities built exposition buildings to attract smaller trade shows. Sometimes these buildings were of significant interest to justify the production of a few spoons. These are usually hand engraved in small lots.
Kansas city spoons are readily available.
Minneapolis spoons are rarer
Souvenir Spoon made by Tiffany & Co. to celebrate the 1909 Hudson-Fulton Celebration
The stem pictures Hudson's ship the "Half Moon" ("de Haelve Maene") which first explored the Hudson river in 1609. Below that is pictured the New York seal and below that is a laurel wreath
The bowl pictures Fulton's steamboat the "Clermont" 1807
Click for more information on Hudson and Fulton (short diversion)
In 1876 the Centennial Exhibition was held in Philadelphia. This was fifteen years before the start of the Souvenir Spoon Movement in the United States and at the very inception of the Art Nuevo period. I have a very unusual spoon which I believe dates to this exhibition. If you would like to see it click Queen Victoria.
Many other world fair spoons and other types of souvenirs are avidly collected.
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