Digging into the past:
After the recent gifting of some family flatware heirlooms to Janelle I just had to go on a little archeology mission to try and find out what I could about the gorgeous set of spoon that Lisa was so generous in passing along to us. A little history of the spoons within the family is as follows. Engraved with the letter "T" they originally were the property of Alice Odell Tracy, Janelle's Great-Great-Grandmother. They were passed along to her daughter Alice Merle Tracy Parker. This was continued with the 
passing along to Dave and Donna Parker, 
Janelle's paternal grandparents. From there they moved to Lisa and on to Janelle. Amazing to have something passed through 5 generations of related women!! I certainly felt like I was on Antique Roadshow as I looked for any marks, patterns, or whatever I might be able to find as clues to the origin of the spoons manufacture. What I found was quite satisfying and a cool little chunk of history from my point of view. ;-) Using the cameras here in the lab I was able to get some really nice close-ups of the impressions on the back of the spoon's neck, and 
was then able to match these with patterns I found online. Both the lettering and the small impression of the Stag's Head matched a famous American-made flatware company that has been around since the early 1800's; R. Wallace & Sons Mfg. Co. Started in Chesire, Connecticut in the 1833 the company has gone through several permutations within the Wallace family and remains today as Wallace Silversmiths and can be found in Boston, MA. At one time it was the largest producer of table flatware in the world!! I was even able to find the specific pattern engraved on the spoons. It is called the "Louvre" pattern, a pattern that was discontinued in 1893. By my calculations that makes the spoons at the very least a mere 115 years old!! Not too shabby I would say. In any case it was a great chance to do a little historical searching and learn a little bit more about my soon-to-be in laws at the very least. Hope you enjoyed the facts as much as I did!
passing along to Dave and Donna Parker, 
Janelle's paternal grandparents. From there they moved to Lisa and on to Janelle. Amazing to have something passed through 5 generations of related women!! I certainly felt like I was on Antique Roadshow as I looked for any marks, patterns, or whatever I might be able to find as clues to the origin of the spoons manufacture. What I found was quite satisfying and a cool little chunk of history from my point of view. ;-) Using the cameras here in the lab I was able to get some really nice close-ups of the impressions on the back of the spoon's neck, and 
was then able to match these with patterns I found online. Both the lettering and the small impression of the Stag's Head matched a famous American-made flatware company that has been around since the early 1800's; R. Wallace & Sons Mfg. Co. Started in Chesire, Connecticut in the 1833 the company has gone through several permutations within the Wallace family and remains today as Wallace Silversmiths and can be found in Boston, MA. At one time it was the largest producer of table flatware in the world!! I was even able to find the specific pattern engraved on the spoons. It is called the "Louvre" pattern, a pattern that was discontinued in 1893. By my calculations that makes the spoons at the very least a mere 115 years old!! Not too shabby I would say. In any case it was a great chance to do a little historical searching and learn a little bit more about my soon-to-be in laws at the very least. Hope you enjoyed the facts as much as I did!
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