Because of yesterday's post about silverware, I did pull out that set I have for examination when I got home from work. I found out some interesting stuff and found out I was wrong about where it came from. First, some photos:
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The complete 8 piece set in the felt-lined box
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The knife steel with the dark plastic handle doesn't belong with the set, it was just in the box and I didn't think to remove it before taking the photo. There is eight of everything; knives, dinner forks, salad/dessert forks, teaspoons, and soup spoons. There is also a sugar spoon and a butter knife.
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A close up of proof marks. There is an interesting reason that there are two. "IS" = International Silver
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Not silver, silver plated stainless, as stamped just above the handle
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The first thing I did was some research on the Rogers & Bro. company. "Formed in 1847, they perfected electroplating with silver. Rogers Brothers Silver dates back to the early 19th century. In 1847,
the company became a household name when it perfected a process for
electroplating silver. The Meriden Britannia Company bought Rogers
Brothers Silver in 1862. Meriden, in turn, became the International
Silver Company--a name it has carried since 1898. International Silver
continues to produce Rogers Brothers Silver." During some of my research I looked up what stuff is worth. Holy shit... real sterling silver complete sets in the original chest go for thousands! This set is probably only worth a few hundred to the right collector. If it was the real deal I would be actively looking to sell it. Because of the sentimental value I'm not interested in selling it. More on that later.
First, I went to this page on sterlingflatwarefashions.com and matched up the pattern to find out what it was. Weird.. two years and two names listed, WTF? So the story I found from someone in a forum that is a collector goes like this; In 1934, International Silver produced a design they called "Manhattan" and was inspired by the top of the Chrysler Building in NYC completed in 1930. Here is a side-by-side photo of the Chrysler Building and the inspired design on the fork.
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HA... Found it!
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The pattern in the photo on the website is slightly different than what I
have. Mine have three sets of "scallops" but the photo I found has
four. Ah... the story continues; this pattern was re-released a couple
of years later as the Rogers & Bro. "Beverly Hills." While I can not
find a definitive photo for proof, I believe I have the "Beverly Hills"
version, which is most likely why the silverware wears both proof marks.
The "Manhattan" was re-released in 1951 and most likely was the original four scallop design. Again, no definite proof, just reasonable speculation on my part.
So after I had supper, I called my Aunt in Massachusetts. She was married to Dad's youngest brother and is the last survivor of my Dad and his two brother's generation immediate family. I haven't spoken to her since the holidays and I visit her as often as I can, usually on my motorcycle after a Patriot Guard mission to the Massachusetts Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Agawam, MA. Back in the late `50's and early `60's, my Grandparents owned a triple decker in Willimansett, MA that was a 3 generation home. They lived on the first floor, we lived on the second, and my aunt and her family lived on the third. I asked my Aunt if she remembered the silverware set from my Memere'. She told me that family gatherings were always on the first floor with my Memere' and Pepere'. They had a nice dining room where everyone sat for dinner (I remember that when I was older and we had moved to CT), and she said my Memere' had no such formal silverware set. My Aunt is in her early `80's, a real hoot to hang with, and is still mentally sharp with a good memory. She asked if maybe it belonged to my maternal Grandmother, but I said no, I know where that set is and what it looked like and this isn't it. I then asked if maybe it belonged to my Great-Grandmother. She said she was 100% sure it did not. When my Great-Grandparents were elderly, they moved in with one of their daughters and gave away everything from their household. My Aunt said they did not have much to begin with, and she said my Grandparents got very little, certainly not a set of formal silverware. So the question became, where did this set come from?
Reminiscing with my Aunt about my Dad and my Uncle, we came up with a theory as good as any I guess. Both brothers had a penchant for picking up... uh, shall we say... "treasures." My Dad and Uncle would bring things home from the town dump/transfer station. My Mom flipped out on my Dad once for bringing home a huge stack of old aluminum framed glass storm windows. If I remember right, he thought he was going to build a greenhouse in the backyard. Needless to say, the following week the windows went back to the dump. My Aunt postulated that my Dad "acquired" this set either at the dump, at a tag sale, or from someone he knew, and then thought my Mom would like it. Most likely my Mom DID NOT like it thinking the design was dated and ugly, or it was someone else's old junk. Dad had a history of thinking something was really valuable, when it was not. An example... he received a tax declaration form about my Mom's retirement fund after she passed away. It was a copy of some document that said something like, "These funds are worth $3,000,000.00 or less." Well Dad stopped reading at "$3,000,000.00" and assumed Mom had that much money, and promptly started writing 5 digit checks to everyone in the family, closing out all his accounts. When I got involved after the fact, I asked him why he did that and he showed me the form. I pointed out that it wasn't a statement, it was just a copy of a notice. Luckily, the bank called and put a stop to everything and that's when he was diagnosed with dementia and got a conservator. My Aunt had never heard that story, and although on the one hand it is a sad example of what happens with dementia, it was funny because it was also so Dad.
Dear Old Dad probably assumed it was real silver and squirreled it away as a future investment, instead, I ended up with it when I cleaned out his house after he passed. At this point, there is only sentimental mysterious attachment to my Dad, so I don't know what I'll do with it yet.
