I haven’t had anyone round to dinner since March. Does that stop me buying nice house things? No it does not!
First of all imo no one but houses of royalty, and the Uber wealthy use Sterling Silver flatware. The rest of us who inherited Flatware from mom and Gma got silver plate. Silver plate is not $10,000 a set, more like a few hundred.
Neither my mother’s nor my father’s families were uber-wealthy and yet I got a set of sterling flatware from each side when my parents died. As well as two sets of silver plate from the aunts.
That’s cool. Okay I assumed silver sets were super expensive. Apparently not, one can spend ten thousand + or as littles as $500 new or used. Now I have take a magnifier to the back of mine, Can’t quite discern the marks or maker.
VOW’s bad bad bad (welcome back, Beck!) silverware story:
My mother had a set of silverplate tableware. My grandmother (father’s mother) gave it to her as a wedding gift.
The silver was always put away in the silverchest on top of the refrigerator. It came down for Thanksgiving, Christmas, any and every special occasion. My sister and I were handed the jar of Twinkle, and we occupied ourselves with polishing while Momma cooked. Just mentioning that takes me back to her kitchen, smelling wonderful things, and knowing we’d soon eat with the silverware my sister and I had just polished.
When I got married, Momma gave me her silver.
Two years later, we adopted my husband’s sister, who was miserable in foster care. Our intentions were honorable, but we were completely unprepared for the sheer Hell she brought down upon us.
Two more years passed, and we were able to move back to SCal. It was decided that we would host T-day.
My mother came over early to help. She got my silver chest and opened it.
After a few heartbeats, she said, “VOW, I know you probably already told me, but what happened to your silver?”
The set was decimated. There were a few random pieces left, not even enough for three place settings.
It took about forty years for me to actually admit it to myself, but I know my husband’s sister probably helped herself to the silver whenever she needed money for drugs.
Momma and I never talked about it. Ever. But she knew everything we had been through, and being a smart lady, she figured out for herself what had happened.
My ironic chuckle is that it was “only” silverplate. I bet Sticky Fingers felt so cheated when she found out.
So, good dishes, good silver, and linen tablecloths are fond childhood memories. These days, if we’re feeding a crowd, it’s paper plates and plastic ware.
~VOW