Silver in 1947 America

   

This advertisement not only is for the silver, but for “The Unusual Etiquette Book,” “Every-day service and the etiquette of entertaining,” by Diana Beningfield. It was promoted and published by Wallace Silver, as were several other etiquette and entertaining books over the years.

Silver and You

Today, the average American enjoys silver possessions that would have been virtually unknown to all but royalty and aristocracy in days gone by. The magnificence of the silver pieces, available to women in our country, would have stirred the wonder and envy of queens. Nowhere in the world, not even in Europe, is silver so attainable to so wide a number of people.

In a land, therefore, that has enabled silver to become the property of all who love beauty, it is particularly important that your silver have the individuality and character that keep it in the realm of rare and precious things. Its mood must be your mood-vivacity or serenity, simplicity or grandeur. Your silver pattern must be created to give this mood its fullest, most radiant expression.

The subtle desire to achieve this reflection of your own personality, colors everything you buy. One of the nicest compliments friends can bestow as they visit you in your home is to say: "What a delightful background your home creates for you." The work, the patience, the time you put into decoration and the acquiring of choice possessions are now more than repaid, for you know you have succeeded in giving expression to your love of beauty by investing your surroundings with the aura of your individuality. This is true of clothes, too. How often have you been urged to stop in at a little hat shop, or dress salon, to view a model on display because "it looks just like you."

The definite association which the character of your loveliness has impressed upon people's minds is perhaps most vividly exemplified in the silver you select. Though you may vary the decorative scheme of your home, and even discard the hat or frock, your silver is a lifetime possession. More than anything else, it says to all who cross your threshold, "This is the beauty that is an indelible part of my life, for it will give lasting satisfaction to my deeper aesthetic nature." 

When you pour the morning coffee, or reign as hostess at a dinner party, your silver is a reflection of you, of the value you place in quality, of the beauty you cherish and live by, of the romance that colors each of your days. That's why your silver pattern must be selected with care and affection. It must embody the mood and the meaning of your personality. And it must be sterling. So the choosing of your sterling pattern becomes an exciting adventure in your pursuit of happiness.– From Wallace Beauty Moods in Silver, by William Warren, 1947

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

Historic Importance of Silver

A Halloween themed table-scape is shown in a a Wallace Silver advertisement from the early 1900’s

The Romance of Silver:

Queen of Metals Through the Ages

Since the day the first silver deposit was discovered, many centuries ago at the very dawn of civilization, silver has been desired and cherished perhaps more than any other metal. Its serene loveliness gleams through the pages of history, mantling all whose lives it touches with an aura of romance and distinction.

In the past, only the wealthy, the kings and the nobility, could boast possessions of silver. The rest of the world, for the most part, rarely even beheld it. Silver was far too precious and costly for all but the most patrician of households. Its value reached almost legendary proportions. 

Great emperors accumulated silver treasures to bestow upon royal neighbors whose warlike ways they feared, or whose friendship they sought. Courtiers who found favor in a ruler's eyes were honored with gifts of silver. Beautiful ladies were courted and wooed with tokens of silver. And when nights of revelry marked the life of the palace or castle, guests were able to gauge the power and fortune of their host by the resplendent silver that formed the background for sumptuous banquets.

Yet, despite the limited number whose wealth and position enabled them to enjoy its beauty, silver has come down to us as a shining symbol of gracious living. In Biblical times, to greet a guest with supreme elegance and friendship was to offer him a silver goblet from which to drink and quench his thirst. When Homer sang in ancient Greece, his listeners toasted the bard's immortal poems with libations drunk from vessels wrought of silver- and the rewards they pressed upon him were often silver wine cups.

But the shining spell that silver cast from the dawn of civilization was not confined to articles of aristocratic appointments only. Women, with their instinctive love of adornment, have always been intrigued by its flattering complement to the person. In ancient Egypt, India, Greece and Rome, rings, bracelets, anklets, earrings and discs of this gleaming metal bedecked the lady of rank. This was her wealth.

The radiant luminosity of silver seems to have shone with particular effectiveness from the hair. Silver diadems of almost prehistoric vintage have been unearthed in Spain. Delicate filigree headdresses, elaborate coiffures interlaced with silver discs and charms were, and in many cases still are, beloved feminine decoration in China, Tibet and the mystery-shrouded recesses of the far-off Himalayas.

Silver made its entry, too, into the realm of music, for it was found to bequeath a depth and richness of tonal quality. The two trumpets which guided the ancient Israelites from Egyptian slavery into the Land of Promise, were fashioned of solid silver.

Images of the gods and goddesses of antiquity were carved in silver. Temples were richly adorned with it. The metal became so indigenous a part of religious ritual in ancient times, that in Ephesus, a city in Asia Minor, the silversmiths' guild, headed by Demetrius, fought the advent of Christianity, fearing its effect upon their trade. Diana was the goddess of the Ephesians, and Demetrius rallied his fellow-craftsmen to what he termed the danger not only to their craft but to the temple of their patroness. But the use of silver in churches, cathedrals, temples and mosques grew steadily greater. Pillars, massive screens, entire chapels were sometimes coated with silver.

Empires rose and fell, civilizations flourished and decayed, but the reign of the Queen of Metals continued, its glory undimmed, its prestige unchallenged. In the Orient, potentates and Maharajahs, whose reign extended over vast stretches of territory and millions of people, put their wealth into silver. Its estate value continues to this very day. Objects of silver are precious heirlooms, handed down from generation to generation.

Silver is also the metal of gracious living and pride in possession a stamp not merely of wealth, but of culture. Wherever men seek to imbue their lives and homes with lasting loveliness, silver is honored above all metals. – From Wallace Beauty Moods in Silver, by William Warren, 1947

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