Souvenir spoon: 1901 Pan American Exposition

1901

Maker

American Souvenir Co. (1895-c. 1999)

Measurements

5-1/2 in x 1-1/4 in x 5/8 in

Materials

Gold-washed silver and enamel

Credit Line

Historic Odessa Foundation, The David Wilson Mansion, Inc.

Accession Number

1971.1204

Inscription

“PAN AMERICAN EXPOSITION 1901 / ELECTRIC TOWER” is painted in the bowl.  “AMERICAN SOUVENIR CO. / STERLING PAT. / BUFFALO NY.” is in raised letters on the handle back.  “OFFICIAL” is in raised letters on the back of the bowl near the handle.

Provenance

Ex coll. Mrs. E. Tatnall (Mary Corbit) Warner

Comments

A running buffalo appears in relief on the ornately shaped and asymmetrical handle with C scroll edges.  It is above an Indian in a headdress and holding a hatchet in his right hand.  The bowl illustrates in color the Electric Tower, constructed to show off alternating current electric lighting and other uses.  Power was generated from Niagara Falls, which is depicted on the back of the handle.

The American Souvenir Co. started in Boston, Massachusetts, and opened a satellite in Buffalo, New York, to produce souvenir spoons for the 1891 exposition.  The Buffalo operation closed in 1902, but the company continued in the souvenir business until about 1999.  Another spoon by this same manufacturer made for the exposition is accession no. 1971.1203.

Bibliography

Accumulation & Display:  Mass Marketing Household Goods in America, 1880-1920 (The Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum, 1986), no. 165, pp. 131-132.