Less Used Place Pieces

 These two lovely spoons are Fruit Spoons. They are slightly smaller than teaspoons and have a more pointed bowl. This is good for scooping grapefruit, oranges or a wedge of melon. The fruit spoon is either the size of a teaspoon or can be slightly smaller as these two. These two monogrammed fruit spoons are quite old but I have a set of more modern fruit spoons that have serrated edges.

These beautiful forks are dessert forks. They are almost "sporks" that wonderful invention of half spoon, half fork which is great for ice cream and cake. These have no markings and are somewhat of a mystery to me. I tend to think they may be of Mexican origin since I purchased them here in Southern California.

These four assorted demitasse spoons probably date from the 1930's to the 1950's. I own many demi-tasse spoons from the ones that match my wedding sterling to sets of six and a whole pile of mismatched. With the popularity of Espresso and coffee based drinks, they are very in demand these day. Lately I have been using them for "tasting party" dishes. You know those tiny desserts many restaurants serve today. Well, that idea has been brought home with time appetisers, tiny bits of main dishes and yes, tiny desserts. Demitasse spoons are intended for small cups of coffee served at the end of a meal or as an alternative hot drink at tea parties. Little girls love demi-tasse spoons and demi-tasse cups. When I was growing up my mother and many of her friends had large collections of demi-tasse cups. I loved when I accompanied my mother to any kind of tea or party where the hostess brought out her collection and served Russian tea in these dainty cups. My mother's collection sits on a large silver tray in my dining room today. Demitasse spoons are four to five inches in length.

Here are two very old oyster forks. Oyster forks and their first cousin, cocktail forks are used with five piece place setting. The difference in oyster forks and cocktail forks is the length of the tine. Oyster fork tines are a bit shorter than cocktail fork tines. Oyster forks are as you have guessed, are used for eating oysters from the half-shell. Cocktail forks are for shrimp cocktail. Since my husband is from Boston, we have eaten many stuffed clams and either fork is good for this treat but I like the oyster fork better. The shorter tine is easier on the mouth since you are sliding the stuffing off the fork. Both are five to six inches in length.