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Wednesday, June 12, 2013

A Piece of History

My son Josh came with me last night to the Goodwill to drop off an old television set. As long as we were there why not do a little browsing? Josh knows I collect old silverware and he immediately spied a bag with a dozen spoons in it for only $3. Later at home while inspecting our loot I noticed that several pieces were monogrammed with a "C". This has happened to me several times this past year, finding things with my last initial on them.

This spoon in particular I though quite charming but definitely in need of a bit of polish!


I realized the initial wasn't really engraved but more like relief, or actually cast into the piece. That seemed unusual.

Flipping it over I saw that this was a piece of Hotel silver from the Commodore Hotel in New York City dating 1926. 
What fun!

The Commodore Hotel was opened in 1919 and was right next to Grand Central Station. It was owned by a division of the New York Central Railroad, which in turn was partly owned by 
Cornelius Vanderbilt -  aka. The Commodore.

The Commodore Hotel was purchased in the 1970's by Donald Trump who completely rebuilt it and turned it into a Hyatt property. 
Somehow my little spoon made it's way through the decades and across the country to wind up in Mesa, Arizona  where I will treasure it because I share an initial with 
"The Commodore".


at

8 comments:

  1. Ivy, Phyllis and Me!June 13, 2013 at 5:04 AM

    Good Afternoon Karee, This is a lovely find and especially with your initial. At first I thought maybe someone who had visited the hotel had taken a teaspoon as a souvenir, but when you said there were a few, I could not imagine that this had happened.
    What fun, that you have been finding items with your initials..... they were meant to come to you.
    Best Wishes
    Daphne

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  2. Thecreativeme23June 13, 2013 at 11:10 AM

    hello from The Creative Me and My McG! - love your silverware finds

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  3. angela hodges abodeJune 13, 2013 at 3:06 PM

    Thank you for visiting Hickory Trail. I'm now following you too! :)

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  4. PamelaJune 13, 2013 at 7:26 PM

    What a fun piece of history! Thanx for sharing its story at THT.

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  5. SarahJune 14, 2013 at 8:36 PM

    Wonderful story! I'm always in awe of some of the things one can find at GW. '-)
    Glad that spoon found it's way to you. ~ Sarah

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  6. Curtains in My TreeJune 20, 2013 at 9:03 AM

    I love a good story of found treasures

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  7. Gail @ http://biblelovenotes.comJune 22, 2013 at 7:22 PM

    How fun to have silver that has a history. I always love antiques with a "story" attached.

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  8. UnknownAugust 1, 2015 at 10:55 AM

    In searching for a sugar spoon..I came across 7 knives, 10 tea spoons, 6 forks & 6 soup spoons all from the Commodore Hotel marked with "C". All but five of the knives are stamped with "c"...the other five knives have a raised "C"

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