Wednesday, 13 March 2013

Another Help!

It is the length of a teaspoon.  It is made of EPNS.



It has a teaspoon pattern on this side and therefoe appears to be designed to be dragged or pushed rather than held upwards.
What is it?  Any ideas welcome.

P.S. We bought it in a charity shop for 75p - they didn't know what it was for either!
Posted by Scriptor Senex at 03:57

24 comments:

  1. ADRIAN13 March 2013 at 04:10

    I think that it is a baby feeder. Don't know how a baby uses it though.

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  2. GB13 March 2013 at 04:34

    I am fairly sure that either we or Nana had something similar (although I'm sure I last saw it in the top righthand cutlery drawer in our sideboard). It may have been ours because it was chromium not EPNS. On the other hand if you don't recall it....? Now I'm even more puzzled because I presumably knew what it was for but csn't for the life of me remember. Now you've really got me trying to delve into my memory banks.

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  3. ADRIAN13 March 2013 at 04:58

    PS. John it should have a spoon with it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Scriptor Senex13 March 2013 at 13:02

      Thanks Adrian - as you can see from below - McGegor agrees with you so that's solved it. Obiously the baby often wouldn't know how to use it either!!!

      Delete
  4. Susan Park13 March 2013 at 05:10

    Send your pictures to www.replacements.com and they might be able to identify it for you. They have every pattern of silverware and china ever made in a huge warehouse in North Carolina. Nice people to work with.

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    Replies
    1. Scriptor Senex13 March 2013 at 13:00

      Thanks Susan - McGregor has answered it below but that's a useful site to know about.

      Delete
  5. VirginiaC13 March 2013 at 11:18

    I think it may be an antique table crumb sweeper.

    ReplyDelete
  6. McGregor13 March 2013 at 11:55

    John,
    This little utensil is a child’s pusher, one of those double-edged good ideas designers have now and again; its purpose falls midway on the scale between “assist” and “confound,” its arguable utility outweighed by practicality. Ideally, it might help a child load a spoon with food, something children's fingers do quite well!
    The letters EPNS stand for electroplated nickel silver. The stamp indicates that your silver piece is made of metal coated with silver rather than being made of sterling silver. And that’s all I know.
    Take care,
    McGregor

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    Replies
    1. Scriptor Senex13 March 2013 at 12:59

      Thanks McGregor. I not only love the fact that you have answered it but also the way that you did. We have a number of 'teaspoons' with a matching design so I can make it into a set of two again.

      Delete
  7. Devushkafizruka13 March 2013 at 12:37

    Maybe... erm... to clean the plates after a meal before washing them? :))) an unusual spoon...

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  8. Devushkafizruka13 March 2013 at 12:37

    Hm... But seems it's a bit small for this...

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  9. Suburban Girl13 March 2013 at 13:01

    I ditto the crumb sweeper. My grandmother used to use one but I cannot remember what it looked like. I just remember her sweeping crumbs before dessert.

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  10. Suburban Girl13 March 2013 at 13:03

    Well, I take my comment back. I read the McGregor comment next and then found this. http://www.ebay.com/itm/ANTIQUE-1902-GORHAM-STERLING-SILVER-CHILDS-DINNER-WARE-FOOD-PUSHER-BUTTERCUP-/260960213597

    I never heard of a pusher before. We just called them fingers.

    ReplyDelete
  11. ~JarieLyn~13 March 2013 at 14:00

    I've never seen one of those before.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Canadian Chickadee13 March 2013 at 18:40

    I really don't know what it is, but vote with Virginia for being a thing-y to sweep the crumbs off the table. Of course it could be a hoe for a bonsai garden for all I know .... the Victorians did have a piece of flatware for every conceivable (and inconceivable!) occasion.

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  13. VirginiaC13 March 2013 at 18:50

    That's why I love this blog CJ, one always learns so much.

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  14. Scriptor Senex14 March 2013 at 16:28

    I should enter another popst before I get too many unusual answers to this - there is no doubt that McGregor recognised it and has the correct answer but I love some of the alternative suggestions.

    Mark tried to comment but blogger was playing up - "The only thing I can think of is that it is one half of something like a set of salad servers. Imagine using two of these, one in each hand, to push salad together and then lift it out of the bowl." Since it is only teaspoon size Mark has obviously cut down on his salad intake recently! Either that or he has more patience than I. But he got the pushing food together idea.

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  15. yaya14 March 2013 at 20:23

    It seems that you have your answer, which is great because I had no clue but I have enjoyed learning something new today! Always good to stop by your blog for some great information and a cup of tea..oh wait, I didn't have any tea, but it's fun to stop and say hi anyway!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Scriptor Senex15 March 2013 at 04:28

      I don't know why you didn't stop for tea, YaYa. We have every type and blend imaginable. (And a new kettle becaue the old one died of over-use the other day....) And a comfy chair if you don't mind moving the cat the newspaper out of the way. Next time you must stay....

      Delete
  16. Kay G.15 March 2013 at 00:13

    As soon as I looked at it, I wondered if it might be a tongue scraper.
    I typed in "antique tongue scraper" in a search engine and and found one that looks very much like it.
    I really think that is what it is...

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    Replies
    1. Scriptor Senex15 March 2013 at 04:25

      What a great idea! If that isn't what it is, it should be!

      Delete
  17. Mad Jack16 March 2013 at 14:30

    McGregor nailed it and posted before I could. I am, in fact, congratulating myself on being able to identify it correctly.

    The idea of a food pusher sounds great, right off the top of the old bean you see. Sounds like a wonderful device, keeps the old chow hooks away from the culinary delights and all that. In practice, not so much.

    This is one example of a host of designs that are all variants of the same thing and produce the same results - failure, all for the same reasons.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Kay G.16 March 2013 at 21:19

    Hey! I looked further and it is a child's food pusher (although it IS being sold on ebay as a tongue scraper!) This food pusher didn't make any sense to me, until I remembered that English people push their food onto their forks with their knives and I suppose they didn't want small children to have knives.
    Now, I have noticed that on my English TV shows that a lot of people are eating the American way now, and not using a knife and fork, but just a fork.
    What about you? (And you know my Richard always eats with a knife and fork!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Scriptor Senex17 March 2013 at 00:10

      We alwqays lay a knife and fork at table but if it is something like a rice curry or spaghetti bolognese we tend only to use the fork. So I guess we are just about a quarter of a way across the Atlantic...

      Delete

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