Egg Spoons and Egg Etiquette

Erasmus, in his treatise on manners, de civilitate morum puerilium (On the Civility of the Behavior of Boys), 1530, warned against cleaning out the shell's contents with the fingers or tongue.— Figure 74 from the Tiffany Silver Flatware book—A selection of egg spoons with gilded bowls in Tiffany full-line patterns. Left to right: Vine (iris), 4in.; Lap Over Edge, 4 in.; Persian, 4 in. The egg-shaped bowl of the Lap Over Edge specimen is standard. The shield-shaped bowl of the other two examples is unusual.

The soft-boiled egg has been a favorite food for a long time but before the appearance of egg cups and spoons presented problems as to how it should be eaten. Erasmus, in his treatise on manners, de civilitate morum puerilium (On the Civility of the Behavior of Boys), 1530, warned against cleaning out the shell's contents with the fingers or tongue. Apparently the use of a small knife was acceptable, as was dipping small pieces of bread into the egg. 

Italians at one time were given to drinking a barely heated egg right out of its shell. At first, egg spoons were used not to eat the egg directly but to transfer the semi-liquid contents to a plate, where it was mashed with butter, or to a glass, from which it was drunk.

Egg spoons have always been appropriately small, usually about 4 to 5in. in length, but the shape of the bowl has varied. Some bowls are very slightly oblong, others almost pear-shaped. Still others are shield shaped. 

The most commonly-observed Tiffany egg spoon bowl is egg-shaped, but the bowl of what we think is the egg spoon in some of the early patterns has a shield shape. Bowls of egg spoons are usually gilded to protect against discoloration from the sulfur in yolks. The handle on Tiffany's egg spoon is that of a large coffee spoon.

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, egg spoons and cups were often part of an egg cruet, or egg stand, sometimes surmounted by a salt cellar. Tiffany made these, along with silver or silver-plated egg boilers, or coddlers.— Tiffany Silver Flatware- 1845-1905- When Dining Was an Art, 1999

🍽Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia

Egg-cellent Gilded Age Etiquette

“…We have seen the egg held by a corner of the napkin, but this is not only tiresome but difficult to do nicely without soiling the napkin.”

The etiquette of eating a soft boiled egg has been the subject of more than one clever essay. The English custom, is to eat it directly from the shell, when of course a small egg cup and egg spoon are necessary. The American way, is to break the egg into a cup or glass by striking the egg in the center and turning the contents into the glass. In this case, it is usually eaten with a teaspoon, as an egg spoon, unless extra large, would be too small, and we have seen the egg held by a corner of the napkin, but this is not only tiresome but difficult to do nicely without soiling the napkin. – Mary Barr Munroe in Good Housekeeping, 1899

Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia