A Noiseless Spoon for Soup

“The ‘muffler’ which has been applied to the spoon is simply a ‘lid’ that covers one half the surface of the bowl, a slit being provided at the edge through which the liquid enters the mouth of the user...” — So it was basically a “mustache spoon” with a different name? Yes!

A spoon that permits the most careless person to eat soup without noise has been invented by a St.Louis man. The inventor claims that a person using this spoon cannot make a noise, even if he feels inclined to do so. The “muffler” which has been applied to the spoon is simply a “lid” that covers one half the surface of the bowl, a slit being provided at the edge through which the liquid enters the mouth of the user. 

The device is somewhat like the old fashioned “mustache cups.” In the results obtained, and is recommended to men with heavy mustaches for use with all manner of liquids taken with a spoon. A spoon with a wider silt or aperture is to be made for use with soups other than the “clear’’ or “strained” varieties.— Los Angeles Herald, 1901

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

Soup in a Mustachioed Gilded Age

“It seems from these extracts to be the rule of highly-cultured nations, that no one should speak while he is eating soup, and, considering the modern mustache, it may be a very appropriate police regulation.” — Three “Mustache Spoon” designs from the Gilded Age for eating soup, including one for left-handed dining. Many of these spoons were also occasionally marketed as “Noiseless Soup Spoons.” During the period there was great focus on silently keeping a gentleman’s mustache free of foods and liquids. 

—Photo source Etiquipedia’s private library 

There are some dinner rules in high fashion we may not all know. For instance, in the new novel, “Aristocracy,” this passage occurs: “‘I dare say you'll find England very different from America, Mr Allen,’ Lady Oaktorrington (pronounced ottor) says after the removal of the soup, during which course not a word had been spoken at table.” 

And how it is in France one may gather from Guy de Maupassant’s novel, “Belami,” in which this occurs: “The servant announced: ‘Madame is served.’ then they adjourned to the dining room. Duray found himself seated between Mme. de Marelle and her daughter. *** No one spoke while eating the soup.” This looks like it is by design. 

It seems from these extracts to be the rule of highly-cultured nations, that no one should speak while he is eating soup, and, considering the modern mustache, it may be a very appropriate police regulation. But we must not too quickly jump at conclusions. We all know that sometimes at American dinner parties, in the matter of early conversation, one finds himself, as it were, silently “in the soup.” - Louisville Courier Journal, 1890

Patented “Mustache Holders” and lifters of the era were also sold to those who worried about appearances while dining. As popular as mustaches were at the time, the mustache spoons, along with cups and other mustache-themed items sold very well, even if their patented designs looked downright ridiculous when sent to the patent office to great, unintended comic effect. 

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

Forks for Gilded Age Etiquette

"The safest rule to remember about forks is that, for everything which may possibly be eaten with a fork or cut with a fork, a fork is to be preferred to any other piece of silver."

"Forks, we are told, did not become common until the time of Shakespeare and Queen Elizabeth. The earliest known paragon of perfect manners, the Prioress in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, very evidently had never seen a fork. Instead, she is featured by Chaucer because 'well she could carry a morsel and well keep, that no drop fell upon her breast.' But, if forks were slow in coming into popularity, they have certainly arrived and are now the most important part of table service next to the actual food itself. 

An 1894 design for a pickle fork.  Many foods were still commonly home pickled at the time, as "tinned," or canned, foods remained quite expensive. Pickled carrots, asparagus, snap peas, a variety of fruits, eggs, etc... were still served regularly at the table.

A selection of oyster, lobster claw and fruit forks from the 1890s.

1. The safest rule to remember about forks is that, for everything which may possibly be eaten with a fork or cut with a fork, a fork is to be preferred to any other piece of silver. If it proves quite impossible to get the food safely on the fork without assistance of some sort, one may use a small piece of bread or roll or cracker in the left hand as a 'push bread.'" From Etiquette, Jr., by Mary E. Clark and Margery Closey Quigley 1926, Drawing by Erick Berry

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  1873 design for fruit forks ~ The inverted "umbrella was presumably to catch fruit or fruit juice, that could possibly escape while one ate.  Below is the ornate design for a handle for forks or other utensils.
  
  

  
  

  
  Below is another design from 1893. It is a "knork" or knife/fork combination utensil, designed to eat pie more easily.
  

  
  

                

  
  

       Below is another, more interesting tined pie fork, from 1897.

  
  

  
  
  

  

  
  

Compiled by contributor, and Etiquipedia site editor, Maura Graber, who has been teaching etiquette to children, teens and adults, and training new etiquette instructors, for over 30 years, as founder and director of The RSVP Institute of Etiquette.  She is also a writer, has been featured in countless newspapers, magazines and television shows. Maura was an on-air contributor to PBS in Southern California for 15 years, and has an odd love of strange and unique dining utensils.  

Etiquette for Eating Corn on the Cob

A cob of corn, or ear of corn, is food that can be eaten with the hands, or a fork. If eaten with a fork, you need to be able to hold the cob still to remove the corn and then use your best table manners with your fork. Many utensils were made for this very type of dining, but that was 100 years ago or more. Nowadays most people simply pick the ear of corn up with their hands and then eat. Above ~ A Silver Plated, Green Corn Scraper C. 1900 

Dining in the Victorian and Edwardian Eras was a popular form of entertainment. Breakfasts, lunches and dinners could last several hours, and entertainment in the form of music, or dancing, was provided in the wealthier homes.  Also in the wealthier homes, one would find a vast array of silver dining implements and utensils at each place setting.  Having the newest designs for the most obscure foods that could be purchased, was a way of exhibiting one upmanship with one's peers.

The designs and patents for utensils and other silver marvels for the table were plentiful.  Some were over-the-top in design, while others were much more utilitarian in nature.  After all, one does need to eat, and if a utensil's design was functional, easy to use and pleasing to the eye, it was a hit with consumers.

Green corn on the cob was very popular in the Victorian Era, and it's popularity continued well into the Edwardian Era and beyond.  The difficulty, as with today's corn on the cob, was in serving the corn, and eating the corn, without looking like a complete buffoon and making a spectacle of oneself in the process.  Below is a list of etiquette tips, along with a sampling of some of the more creative items designed for eating corn.

1877 patent- Green corn scrapers or “strippers” were popular items for those who did not wish to deal with the mess of eating corn off of the cob.

A “Green Corn Fork” also patented in 1877.  This looks much like mango forks of today, and also like corn holders that were popular up until the 1920s,  but with much longer handles.

An 1899 patent for a corn slitter which shows the "teeth" as the Victorian designed corn slitter, or scraper, at the very top of the page does not. The "teeth" scraped the corn off of the cob so that one could eat the kernels with one's fork.

A rare Gorham corn holder from 1901, in the Florentine pattern.  Note the man's face on the end of the handle.

A stunning and highly decorative corn holder or “table article” from 1907

A much more utilitarian looking corn cob holder from 1908

A green corn fork patent applied for in 1907 and granted in 1908.  This fork has teeth!  It may have been functional, but was probably hazardous to the mouth.

A patent for a 1909 “Ear Corn Holder.” Artists were not well paid at the time, and tended to make many mistakes when it came to etiquette.  This woman is shown exhibiting two dining faux pas; eating with her elbow on the table, and her napkin still sits on the table as well.  Kudos to the artist who got the rest positions for the knife and fork almost perfect, but what else was she eating that required either utensil?  Her plate was clean.

An 1899 corn slitter or scraper, a 1921 corn fork, designed with one slightly sharper edge and tines, to not only scrape the corn off of the fork, but to eat the corn as well, and a 1925 patented “Ear Corn Server.”

Another patent for a “Green Corn Fork” but this one is from 1943.

Here is a list of the rules to eat corn on the cob in the most polite way:
     

• Do not butter the entire ear before eating. Butter and/or season only a few rows of corn at a time if you can. 
• Hold the corn firmly by the ends or skewers, or holders with both hands, if it is not too hot. 
• Eat a few rows from left to right at a time.  Do not eat in a circle or ring around the corn. Do this as neatly as you can without making loud sounds. 
• Remember to wipe your mouth with your napkin after setting the cob or ear down. 
• Do not pick at your teeth unless you leave the table.  If you need to remove corn stuck between teeth, do so in private. 
• If you have used butter, please make sure your hands are clean before touching other items on the table, so as not to leave a mark or make a mess.

Contributor Maura Graber has been teaching etiquette to children, teens and adults, and training new etiquette instructors, for over 30 years, as founder and director of The RSVP Institute of Etiquette.  She is also a writer, has been featured in countless newspapers, magazines and television shows and was an on-air contributor to PBS in Southern California for 15 years. 

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