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Cutlery, happy to have it
by Danny Trinders
http://www.rbcutlery.com
Cutlery gets its name from the person who makes it, a
skilled person who makes knives. Here in the United States,
we call our cutlery either silverware or flatware and we
use it to eat our food with instead of our hands. In very
early times in London, it was a very important trade to be
a cutler.
The history of cutlery starts with the shell and the sharp
flint used for cutting. Gradually, chipping flint began to
improve naturally sharp edges. When copper and bronze came
into use, knives began being fashioned by those two metals.
Later steel and alloys of steel displaced other materials
for blades and other cutting instruments. Table knives were
introduced around 1600. Before that time, individuals
brought their own knives to the table, which also doubled
as daggers. The cutlery industry evolved from
handicraftsman to mass production. Certain localities,
especially in Europe, have become known for the superiority
of their cutlery. The Toledo blade of Spain was famous when
the sword was an important weapon. In addition Solingen,
Germany and Sheffield, England, have been recognized for
their cutlery since the Middle Ages.
The three major cutlery items in the western world are the
knife, fork and spoon. Traditionally, quality cutlery was
fashioned from silver, hence the U.S. name). Formerly steel
was always used to make utilitarian knives, and pewter was
used in some cheaper items, especially spoons. Today, since
most silverware is not made from silver, the term tableware
has come into use. Since the 19th century, Electroplated
Nickel Silver (EPNS) has been utilized as a cheaper
substitute. Most modern cutlery is fashioned from stainless
steel.
In the United States regular eating knives are made of
steel and even at one time pewter was used in cheaper
silverware, especially spoons. Since the 19th century,
electroplated nickel silver has been used to make cheaper
kinds of silverware. Today though since most of the
silverware we use is not actually made from silver anymore,
silverware has turned into tableware.
The best cutlery is made out of carbon steel, as most good
chefs know. Most tableware is mass produced today from
steel bars or stamped out of long sheets of metal and
coated with chromium to make stainless blades. When fast
food and all things disposable came into existence, so did
plastic tableware. Plastic tableware is very handy to take
on picnics, BBQ's, and sports tailgating events because if
a spoon or fork and knife breaks or gets left behind, it's
really no big deal. Actually, a recent invention called the
"spork" a combining of the spoon and the fork. What did we
ever do before that invention came to be?
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