Obscure utensil quiz...

[enbell]

This is a rather long link, so it may not work, but I took the bait to see how I'd fair in the realm of older kitchen gadgets. Some of them made sense; some just made me laugh - oh to live in the Victorian era. By the way I scored a 10/20.

http://home.aol.com/decorating/photo-...

[sandih]

that was hard...only 7 of 20

[chazzerking]

16/20. mostly from dealing with a good friend who collected and actually used most of these. Had to laugh when I saw #1, as I "borrowed" my mother's and used as a pick for my 'fro as a younger man. Surprisingly, when I cut my hair, she didn't want it back.

[alkapal]

that was some 'fro pick! my mom, a southern born-and-bred white woman, used a purple 'fro pick with the black power fist as the handle. cracks me up. ;-D i think she still has it (vintage '70s, don't ya know!)

she didn't have a lot of fancy victorian utensils, including the cake slicer. i've gotten enough gadgets to make up for that.

[Mothership]

Thank you for the link - that was really interesting. BTW - 12 out of 20. What fun - now I have more random items to keep my eyes open for in antique stores - I love using unique and varied items for serving.

[Canthespam]

11/20 - some from personal knowledge, some (were just good guesses). I have a small collection of antique serving pieces but very few were in the quiz. I like things like this - keeps the old mind going.

[alkapal]

15/20. but i go to flea markets and antique stores. those craaaazy victorians!

[NYCkaren]

I'm impressed that some of you got perfect or near-perfect scores. I got a pitiful seven right out of 20.

[enbell]

I am impressed as well. I'm curious how much of theie performance is based on historical knowledge or actual experience. Either way, I sure have a lot to learn.

[Cachetes]

I got a pitiful 11/20. And those 11 came neither from experience nor historical knowledge, but rather a mix of elimination and dumb luck. The only one I recognized was the baby spoon.

Now, however, I am determined to find those potato chip scoops for my next party.

[Mawrter]

15 correct. Based on being a good guesser, given the descriptions, shapes, and historical conjecture. I'm interested in these sorts of gizmos, but not knowledgeable.

And for someone with no regard for AOL, I'm loving these quizzes!

[Gio]

19/20 here..... Having inherited many of those serving utensils, I had an edge, I think.

[Dee S]

I got 11/20. Some of the pictures included a reference to their size, which *really* helps with identification. For example, the bacon server and sardine server are similar in shape. If you don't know how big it is, the bacon server could easily be mistaken for the sardine server.

I love these quizzes!

[johnb]

FWIW, 13 of 20

[Stephanie Wong]

So did I -- the lemon fork was a revelation.

[jfood]

M&M jfood just took the quiz. the pressure was building as they were 19 for 19 when the last picture came up. Then they saw the exact utensil they have in their dining room,

Mrs jfood was responsible for 15 and jfood 5. Not sure it;s a good thing that they achieved a "20".

[enbell]

Really, the bon bon spoon - really?! I do believe you, I'm just amazed :) The real question remains though: Have you actually used one?

[jfood]

OK here's the scoop:

a - the jfood own one
b - look at the other choices. who scoops meatballs from sauce with a slotted spoon, you want the gravy? what are you going to serve one mussel? and the handle is not long enough to remove eggs from boiling water.

[enbell]

Ahhh maaaaaaaan! That's actually the one I chose! I thought it was in line with the finicky mindset of that time period. Now, I must know, it part of the normal rotation for Sunday dinners?

[MMRuth]

I have several of those bon bon things. I've not used them. Also have a Stilton spoon and various other obscure utensils. My mother works in an antique store where the owner loves and specializes in silver, so I often help her to do research online on utensils and figuring out what they are meant for. My MIL also tends to pick up silver utensils for me as gifts. I even have some odd tongs that are meant for finger sandwiches. Some interesting links:

http://www.clearlight.com/~schredds/tong.htm

http://www.antiquesilverspoons.co.uk/...

I still don't have grape scissors though, which would be useful since my husband pulls off the individual grapes and leaves an unpleasant looking bunch in the bowl.

[Gio]

MM, the secret to that is to pre-snip a small bunch at the place where the stem meets the main stem. The grapes still look good in the bowl or platter but there are no remaining bare little stems.

[MMRuth]

Thanks - I do know that--I then go in and "prune". The problem is getting my husband to do that! But, being the kind of man he is, if he has those fancy scissors, he'll use them. Hmm - maybe that's his birthday gift!

[jfood]

mrs jfood loves grape scissors, especially sterling. and when she goes to the antique stores she explains to the ladies what they are selling and they appreciate it. meanwhile jfood is hangingout with the avatar. BTW - the ladies in the store love the avatar and always ask when she is not with the jfoods.

[Clarkafella]

8 out of 20 here- that was fun!