Maggie's Farm

We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.

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Tuesday, March 2. 2021

Silverware, China, and dishwashers


I suspect that some numbers of our readers have inherited sets of China, crystal, and silverware. We have quite a few, more than there are holidays for sure. My Mom's Spode Christmas stuff is always used for a month or so, but the other sets not much. And we have so many large sets of silverware. Kids do not really want this stuff.


In fact, only the most sentimental people like old stuff. I am one of them. 


At dinner with friends this weekend we all resolved to use only China and silverware at home for the indefinite future. What good are heirlooms, if not used?


If gold-rimmed, etc., teach any kids at home how to wash dishes and silverware. It is not rocket science and only takes a few minutes. 


Posted by Dr. Joy Bliss in The Culture, "Culture," Pop Culture and Recreation at 13:57 | Comments (15) | Trackbacks (0)

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Continue to rotate your old dishes so all get the same amount of wear. Dishwashers have a tendency to ruin china over time. If you have sterling wash by hand and do not put sterling flatware in with stainless. Discoloration will result. You are right in that none of the "kids" want anything to do with the heirloom dishes.
#1 JC on 2021-03-02 16:23 (Reply)
We have china, crystal, and silverware for special occasions, and I have to say it's nice to put on a good feed once in a while for the important people in your life.

But day-to-day: Even though it's a bit of a pain, I have to say there is something I find particularly special about eating with a silver fork/knife/spoon etc. Coin silver, not silver-plate. Don't know why, but I prefer it.
#2 Aggie on 2021-03-02 16:24 (Reply)
It is/was believed that real silverware helped prevent some diseases. My parent's silverware was a silver plate. I got sick a lot as a child, I guess I didn't leave the spoon in my mouth long enough. Our "china" was Blue Willow. I spent a lot of time studying that pattern while trying to avoid eating my mashed potatoes.
#3 OneGuy on 2021-03-02 16:35 (Reply)
Excellent thought.

Why not use your "best stuff" every day?

What is it waiting for?
#4 BD on 2021-03-02 17:45 (Reply)
Nailed it, BD.

People are often unpleasantly surprised when the bring great-granma's wedding china in for appraisal, even if the set is good quality, in perfect shape, and complete.

Little of the china set's quality will long survive being run through a dishwasher regularly. And if it has any metallic plate decoration (gold or silver rims, say) that rules out use in a microwave.

These two barriers are deadly for antique value for most people today, which makes them deal-breakers. So what do appraisers tell people who have just heard the unwelcome news?

Simple: USE IT for everyday table service! Wash it by hand! And enjoy the use of a family treasure with a direct link to your ancestors.
#5 PubliusII on 2021-03-02 17:50 (Reply)
How about a dishwasher with a well designed delicate cycle? Naw, still won’t make the cut. And the RADAR RANGE problem is insurmountable.

You’re right, use it every day you want and wash dishes by hand Doctor. Or replace your microwave frequently and observe the deterioration each time you unload the dishwasher.
#6 Franknbean on 2021-03-02 18:24 (Reply)
Younger - by which I mean middle-aged - people still have an illusion that they need to preserve this stuff with careful treatment because it is wasteful in some ways otherwise. My wife still resists using the chine, crystal and silver because she just cannot bring herself to treat it cavalierly. But we are 67 and we have used the stuff only 3-4 times a year since our wedding in 1976. It looks nearly new, and none of our five sons wants it. If five sons didn't break that much of it over decades, we clearly didn't get the use of it enough. (The one who might has a wife who already has her mother's stuff, which she prefers.) What are we going to do, ship it to Norway? Nome? Get real.

Use it. Wring every ounce of joy out of it. And if it looks shabby a few years before you die instead of being perfectly timed to the moment of your death, is that such a great loss?
#7 Assistant Village Idiot on 2021-03-02 19:13 (Reply)
While on this subject, I highly recommend buying a few grill viande knives. These were popular in the 1930s, especially on railroads, The blade is short and stainless steel. The handle is silverplate, Dishwashers do them no harm.

They make excellent butter knives, which is how I use them. Examples not marked to a railroad sell for $3+-.
#8 Lover of silverplate on 2021-03-02 19:45 (Reply)
Spot silver is $26 and change. 52 week high is +$30, so if it goes above $30 in the near future, take all grandma's silver you have in the closet and don't use because of some family guilt trip, sell it and buy some good wine or bourbon and drink and enjoy. No one will know or care. If you don't do that your kids will give it to Goodwill or Salvation Army.
#9 rocdoctom on 2021-03-02 22:02 (Reply)
...perhaps part of this is the lack of ceremony and community in modern life - the flip side of informality and mobility?

We use "the good stuff" every week for Sabbath meals with family and friends. And we have special dishes for Passsover. The use of heirlooms is meaningful at these gatherings.

When the kids were young we put some things away for a while and bought simpler glassware.
#10 BenDavid on 2021-03-03 02:43 (Reply)
I once had a storage unit. Somehow when the storage company went bankrupt I and several others lost everything in their storage lockers (big mistake--so sorry!). When i finally got before the judge in a case to get compensation for the loss I had pictures of some of my things. For example. I had a picture of myself and my little girl sitting at the family dinner table. Our beautiful English china was in front of us--two of us=two settings. When I tried to explain to the judge that it was a service for eight he didn't care. I got re-imbursed for two settings! Isn't San Francisco wonderful?
#11 Apple Pie on 2021-03-03 07:11 (Reply)
" These plates are so pretty (attractive, some other appreciative expression )! "

And that's it. Don't know anyone I need to impress with china or silverware. Don't have any relatives to inherit any china from. My wife is too practical to care about not putting things in the dishwasher, although both of us will handwash dishes without a problem.

Frankly, Scarlett, I don't give a damn.

A social meal is about food and conversation, not plates.
#12 barnhill on 2021-03-03 08:14 (Reply)
I bought fancy plates, silverware, and crystal glasses and goblets before I got married. And the cabinets to keep them in. That was in '78. None broken yet.
#13 Sam L. on 2021-03-03 11:05 (Reply)
My wife used to trade in antique Limoges porcelain, mainly turn on the 20th Century Haviland china but some other brands from the same period as well.

The perfect pieces from the collectible patterns continue to fetch good money, but worn and cracked/chipped pieces are next to worthless.

If you own the collectible patterns and your pieces are pristine, not using it is keeping it a sound investment. After all, they are not making any more of it.

Because these pieces do wear with use, my wife elects not to use them. She displays them and gains her enjoyment from looking at them, not eating from them.

OTOH we will eat off the cracked and chipped plates.
#14 feeblemind on 2021-03-03 13:16 (Reply)
I think my parents know I (34) would love to inherit their silverware and nice dishes. Just seems a bit gauche to mention it.
#15 Dark on 2021-03-03 15:42 (Reply)

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