Democratic Sentinel, Volume 8, Number 49, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 January 1885 — Antiquity of the Spoon. [ARTICLE]

Antiquity of the Spoon.

The use of the spoon is widespread, and dates from remote antiquity. The form which we use at the present day—a small oval bowl, provided with a shank and flattened handle—is not that which has been universally adopted. If we look into the manners and customs of the people less civilized than we—the Kabyles, for example—we shall find that they use a round wooden spoon. Romans* also used a round spoon, which was made of copper. We might be led from the latter fact to infer that the primitive form of this utensil was round, and that the oval shape is a comparatively modern invention. But such is not the case, for M. Chantree, in making some excavations on the borders of Lake Paladan, the waters of which had been partially drawn off, found, in a good state of preservation, wooden spoons which in shape were nearly like those in use at the present day, the only difference being in the form of the handle, which was no wider than the shank. The neolithic people used oval spoons made of baked clay. If all so-called remedies have failed, Dr. Sage's Catarrh Kemedv cures. It seems queer, but it Is true, that th stuff that makes a man tight frequently loosens his tongue.— Philadelphia Chronicler Herald.