I have an odd little collection of flatware I never use, but I keep it for sentimental reasons. At some point, both my mother and my father-in-law gave me a handful of old family flatware. Each of them offered pretty much the same sentiment: “Someone ought to keep these and I figured you’d be most likely to care about them.”
My mother’s silverplate. Her mother picked it out for her and she received it as wedding gifts.
So here they are, with the captions explaining what I know. Of course I don’t know about the ones from the Boyd clan, but I do remember eating on the ones from my mother and my grandparents.
I’ve eaten with this many times, and I think it is from the Ralph home.
My Bradley grandparents lived in town (such as it was) and my Ralph grandparents lived in the country. The Bradleys had three children and five grandchildren, two of whom lived in the Washington, D. C., area, so most of our gatherings were pretty quiet. The Ralphs had nine children, all married but one, and, eventually, 21 grandchildren. So every gathering was chaotic. The Ralphs were also far more talkative than the Bradleys, which added to the pandemonium.
This is a serving spoon from Grandmother Bradley’s silverplate. She bought it with money she earned sewing and was very proud of it.
Of course I loved both sets of grandparents. I spent a week with each of them every summer. Grandmother Bradley sewed for me while I was there and I often went home with four new dresses. Grandmama Ralph let me watch all the television I wanted to (no television at my home until I was 16) and eat all the snacks my greedy little heart desired. What indulgences from both! I was the only Bradley granddaughter and the oldest Ralph grandchild, so I always held a position of honor in each family. And I ate it up! (The indulgences as well as the delicious food with these utensils…)
These pieces are from the Boyd family. The serving spoon on the right is sterling, but it was clearly used often to stir since it is very worn.
