The Victorian Spork
A little foray into the research rabbit hole and I find sporks. Who would have guessed?
In my travels following ice cream down the research rabbit hole, I found special cups for serving ice cream, and special vessels for serving it at the table. I even found a rare 18th century ice bell often mistaken for an ice cream serving vessel.
In Jane Austen’s day, entire sets of silverware were devoted to serving and eating ice cream as well. Spoons were fairly long and narrow to match the ice cream cups and serving utensils were broad to carry ice cream from the pails to the cups.
The intrigue did not stop there though, as enjoying ice cream did not stop with the 18th century. As with many things, once the Victorians got hold of ice cream, thing got even more complicated. Enter the ice cream FORK.
Yes, I actually did say fork. The Victorians enjoyed molding their ice creams into a variety of complicated shapes which were then brought to the table in a beautiful display. The molds would be cut and served on a plate.
Naturally anything that is served on a plate, not in a bowl or cup ought not be eaten with a spoon. Thus, the ice cream fork.
Now, just because it was served on a plate, the ice cream did not magically become fork friendly. Since ice cream was largely perfect and not in need a redesign (ok, that is my opinion, not necessarily the Victorians’) the fork got a makeover instead.
While keeping its characteristic tines, the fork also got a shallow bowl added to allow the capture of all the creamy goodness that would otherwise fall through. One glance through a modern eye will identify this new creation as something of a proto-spork if you will. A high class and refined version, often in silver or silverplate, of what would become a much less hallowed plastic artifact of fast food and school lunches just a century or two later. But it its day, the ice cream fork had a place of honor among the Victorian cutlery overkill, proudly standing among the aspic spoons, snail forks, bonbon scoops, and,food pushers for those tots who just couldn’t manage to get their food on to their forks, just to name a few.
Just for the fun of it, can you find the ice cream fork in this twelve course place setting? How many of the other utensils can you identify? Tell me in the comments!
What an interesting article about ice cream forks. The utensils were too numerous to identify! I was done after the appetizer fork.
The ice cream fork is up above the plate. This disastrous setting really should be removed from the internet. It’s an etiquette teacher’s nightmare. Pushed onto an unsuspecting public as “correct,” the majority of these pieces would not have been used together at one meal. Ever. Rarely should there be more than three forks to the left of the place setting, but looking at this setting, there are five different seafood courses, after a starter of caviar! Not to mention the dessert which somehow requires an ice cream spork, a knife, a fork, and a spoon. I love your site, but that place setting is an absolute disaster!
A disaster, and jarring. I thought you were going to point out the upside down flatware, with tines and bowls facing down, resting on the tablecloth. I’ve never, ever, seen anyone set a table like this. After seeing table settings for decades, the pattern recognition of the brain expects to see things continue on with the pattern. This style of service doesn’t work for me for that reason.
It is rather startling, isn’t it?
Good heavens! I never realised a spork wasn’t a fairly recent invention! I see it just above the plate! I have no idea of the official use for the rest, apart from believing that you start on the outside and work in! I tend to eat anything with sauce of some kind with a spoon nowadays rather than end up wearing it!!!!!! ???
I would love to know what is the stick-looking thing in the middle of the forks!
Amazing… that just verifies the Bible saying[ from the Book of Ecclesiastes] … there is nothing new under the sun. Yep… even for the spork. Thanks for sharing.
That is really fascination and amusing. Thank you for the article!