Titel: Scandinavian spoon
Skrivet av: Ingela Martenius skrivet 2006-11-23, 03:13
Even if this particular spoon wasn't Swedish, it is a very Swedish - or, probably, Nordic - tradition to give silver spoons.
If a farmer was able to save something, he'd buy silver. There were no banks for ordinary people, particularly in the countryside, until the late 19th or even early 20th century. And besides, money is subject to inflation and until the 1870's Sweden also had several different monetary systems running in parallel. So, actual money was a risky business for long-term savings - but silver kept its value and could easily be sold. So farmers bought different silver items: spoons were perennial favourites but after a good number of spoons, a successful farmer might become ambitious and try for a tumbler, a cup, a pair of candlesticks or even a bowl. Usually the farmer paid in installments and didn't get the coveted spoon until it was fully paid for, which could take a couple of years.
Since farmers were very conservative the silversmiths had to keep two different styles: one modern, up-to-date for townspeople and one oldfashioned, traditional for the farmers. Spoons were for example made with rat-tails (a pronounced ridge) for at least 150 or 200 years after they were discontinued for the fashion-conscious urban population.
So, giving a girl a spoon was to give something towards the dowry (the traditional Swedish wording is (oh yes, still used) to have something at the bottom of the chest, originally referring to the chest/chests a girl would use to collect her dowry and which would follow her to her new home when she married - and if she had something at the bottom of the chest she had quite a bit saved); today the equivalent would perhaps be to make quite a large deposit in a bank account and contribute towards a college education.