Civil War Spoon

[Hoss 4th AL]

A man has just given me a spoon he found looking for arrow heads in a field. It is stamped "U.S." on the handle. On the back it says "stainless", the spoon handle has a hole in it (it was made into the spoon). Can anyone tell me about it? I think it is CW period. Thanks.

[Ross L. Lamoreaux]

The US issued that, or variants, from 1905 prior to WWI into the nineties. The Federal army did not issue eating utensils during the Civil War

[Rachal]

Darn it, Ross! We almost had justification for the wealth of stainless steel items on sutler row.

[huntdaw]

Those were quite numerous and readily available to non-military people too through surplus etc. I remember my grandmother had several of them just like that described that she used for serving spoons.

[Spinster]

'Stainless' steel was invented and came into common use in the early part of the 20th century.

The useage of military surplus for all sorts of low cost endeavours predates that by centuries.

If my memory is any indicator, what has likely been discovered is the remains of Girl Scout Camp...:rolleyes:.......and if he was anywhere near Gunters Landing, it was Camp Trico and I lost that spoon about 40 years ago.

[Ross L. Lamoreaux]

Mrs. L, what were you doing with a spoon that size when you were only a couple of months old?

[Craig L Barry]

There are still misconceptions about stainless steel being from the Civil War period? Sure, and the Italians made the weapons and the leathers came from Pakistan, just like now.

[7thNJcoA]

You mean Nick Duvall is from Pakistan?

[sigsaye]

You mean Nick Duvall is from Pakistan?

I thought he sounded "funny" when I talked to him about making Naval gear.8)

Steve Hesson

[Spinster]

Mrs. L, what were you doing with a spoon that size when you were only a couple of months old?

Ross,

You really need to get your eyes checked.

Sarah McGirth was born in 1800. And while I'm not her, I play her on TV

[tompritchett]

'Stainless' steel was invented and came into common use in the early part of the 20th century.

Actually the first use of chromium in steel alloys started in the 1820s with the work of Pierre Berthier but it was not until the very early 20th Century when metallurgists were able to combine the high chromium content with low carbon content needed to overcome the brittleness of the earlier chromium steel alloys. Thus, the development of modern stainless steel alloys is given the early 20th Century date Prior to then, the chromium steel was just an area of research and had no practical applications.

[jda3rd]

On knives, cake servers, and some other items of sterling flatware, in the late 19th century, but post CW, some of the blades are marked "stainless", although not stainless steel. I'm not sure but I think the blades might have been tinned or nickeled.

Frank Brower

[Bill_Cross]

There are still misconceptions about stainless steel being from the Civil War period? Sure, and the Italians made the weapons and the leathers came from Pakistan, just like now.
They don't??????

[Artyman]

Sounds like a post WWII mess kit spoon. Now many WWII were stainless, some Korean, but almost all Nam era ones were....before they became plastic of course in the K's, C's, LRP's, MRE's.

Short answer...you didn't find an ACW spoon.

Harry

[Ephraim_Zook]

Modern discussion, but...

Mess kit utensils have a hole in the end of them so that you could slip the utensils over the mess kit handle then dunk the mess kit, with silverware, into a boiling sterilization vat. Even in the 1970s and 80s we still did this when in the field. MREs have pretty much eliminated all that.

What you have is mess hall tableware, often stamped "US", "USMC", sometimes with a caduceus. Our family cabin is well stocked with it -- someone acquired a load of it after WWII.

Even further aside: When my son was in Afghanistan they had no utensils of any kind except for the plastic spoons that came with the MREs. They had no plates or pans of any kind, either. They had one Air Force weatherman with them, and at his first meal there he fished out a WWII-era mess kit from among his meagre belongings and explained that the USAF (God bless their desire for comfort) had issued to him as he deployed.

http://www.cwreenactors.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=2550&stc=1&d=1250509549

[Scooby_308]

Modern discussion, but...

Mess kit utensils have a hole in the end of them so that you could slip the utensils over the mess kit handle then dunk the mess kit, with silverware, into a boiling sterilization vat. Even in the 1970s and 80s we still did this when in the field. MREs have pretty much eliminated all that.

What you have is mess hall tableware, often stamped "US", "USMC", sometimes with a caduceus. Our family cabin is well stocked with it -- someone acquired a load of it after WWII.

Even further aside: When my son was in Afghanistan they had no utensils of any kind except for the plastic spoons that came with the MREs. They had no plates or pans of any kind, either. They had one Air Force weatherman with them, and at his first meal there he fished out a WWII-era mess kit from among his meagre belongings and explained that the USAF (God bless their desire for comfort) had issued to him as he deployed.

http://www.cwreenactors.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=2550&stc=1&d=1250509549

Yup, you and Artyman win the prize. I know I still have my spoon. Fork and knive, I never really used them, but the spoon stayed somewhere close on my person until chow.

[Ross L. Lamoreaux]

Yup, you and Artyman win the prize. I know I still have my spoon. Fork and knive, I never really used them, but the spoon stayed somewhere close on my person until chow.

How did they win the prize, I mentioned it way back on the 9th!

[Scooby_308]

How did they win the prize, I mentioned it way back on the 9th!

Frig a dig...I read it but was in called away then came back to finish the post. Ya, ya, Zu gavinning a kookie tooo.

Jeez, tough crowd.

[Hoss 4th AL]

I don't know if this will matter or not but, the spoon was found in a field where there were also minie balls and buttons found.

[Scooby_308]

I don't know if this will matter or not but, the spoon was found in a field where there were also minie balls and buttons found.

Were there any other military camps in and around there? I mean post 1900. I know that during WWII there were small camps and training facilities that were everywhere, then went the way of the dodo after the war. Also, those types of “silverware” were just surplus and sold as such in many stores/catalogues. Vets kept them and brought them home, etc, etc.

Military reservations (then and now) often have training areas where grunts hump the boonies. Lots of stuff gets dropped. Could, theoretically have been dropped by some feller in training back in the day (WWII-Present).

The “stainless” stamp probably should be a dead give away it isn’t CW. The fact that you found Minnie balls and such is really irrelevant. Wasn’t the fellow who found it looking for arrowheads? Arrowheads and CW Minnie’s are two different time periods.

Just my thoughts…

[Micah Trent]

I don't know if this will matter or not but, the spoon was found in a field where there were also minie balls and buttons found.


People who used to dig at Ft. Duffield in Kentucky, not only found civil war related minnie balls, but buttons, coins, etc., as well as, WWI & WWII bulletts, shells, buttons, coins, spoons, knives, forks, etc., because from the early 1900's to the 1940's, Ft. Duffield and its surrounding areas were a home for a WWI & WWII shooting ranges and camp sites for men who served during that time frame.
The same could possibly be said for your find.

[Hoss 4th AL]

There were a few CW outfits that came through this very county. I don't think anyone has ever used this field for anything but farming, besides, it is not a huge field. It would not be a good place to train, but a very good place to camp. Also, I have never heard of any post-CW military coming through this area. The man who found this, has looked all over our area for arrowheads and has found many CW artifacts.Hope this helps.

[Mint Julep]

There were a few CW outfits that came through this very county. I don't think anyone has ever used this field for anything but farming, besides, it is not a huge field. It would not be a good place to train, but a very good place to camp. Also, I have never heard of any post-CW military coming through this area. The man who found this, has looked all over our area for arrowheads and has found many CW artifacts.Hope this helps.


Hoss,

Is there any chance the area you are in was used during Patton's training manuevers in WW2?

[Spinster]

Tell you what Hoss. Given your unit, its a pretty good bet you live somewhere north of me, and somewhere south of Tennessee, and maybe even somewhere west of I65. I just had a most pleasant trip up to Fort Donaldson and Land Between the Lakes. Took me about 5 hours to get home, and I drove country roads all the way. There's nice camping up there, nice Civil War, an elk herd, an 1840's homestead and other things to entertain the wife and kids.

Take that spoon with you and go up to Fort Donaldson Relics in Dover, Tennessee Nice little storefront not far from the southern terminus of the Trace road for Land Between the Lakes. That nice young man will be able to give a full assessment of your spoon. Call ahead, just in case they are gone to a show or something. http://www.fortdonelsonrelics.com

And, if your family is not the camping sort, the Dover Motel is also right there close to the LBL entrance. Nice little place with rooms, a few cabins and a swimming pool, at a reasonable price.

This way, you get an answer from a real expert.

[Hoss 4th AL]

Thank you Mrs.Lawson, that will be our next family day-trip!

[musketbal]

Hi all,
While I was in the Army stationed at Ft. Stewart, Georgia in 1987, our battalion was digging foxholes for a training excercise. Upon completion of mine I noticed a old fork that had been dug up. My buddy said it was from the Civil War. I then noticed that you could read "US" on the handle. The neat thing is that the handle had been bent backward to make it more compact and easier to use.
Ft. Stewart was used at least since WW1 for the US Army and Georgia National Guard. While at Ft. Stewart I didn't go to any of the battlefield except Ft. Polaski. Only if I know now what I should have known then!!
Brent Conner
http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z158/musketbal/DSC02442.jpg
http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z158/musketbal/DSC02441.jpg