Spoon
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Reverted edits by [[Special:Contributions/Wikiwikiwombat|Wikiwikiwombat]] ([[User talk:Wikiwikiwombat|talk]]) to last version by Toon05
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[[Image:Soup Spoon.jpg|thumb|250px|A spoon.]]
A '''spoon''' is a [[utensil]] consisting of a small, shallow bowl at the end of a handle, used primarily for serving and eating [[liquid]], or semi-liquid foods, and solid foods such as [[rice]] and [[cereal]] which cannot easily be lifted with a [[fork]]. Spoons are also used in cooking to measure and mix ingredients. They can be made from metal, wood or plastic.
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:Achaemenid spoon.jpg|thumb|right|Ancient silver spoon with handle shaped in form of a duck's neck. [[Achaemenid]] period. Excavated at [[Pasargad]], kept at [[National Museum of Iran]].]] -->
[[Image:Dornum Honig Löffel.jpg|thumb|Honey spoon of the type used in the Middle Ages]]
From the derivation of the word the earliest [[northern European]] spoon would seem to have been a chip or [[splinter]] of wood; [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] references point to the early and natural use of [[seashell|shell]]s, such as those that are still used by primitive peoples.<ref name="enc">[http://en.wikisource.org/w/index.php?title=User:Tim_Starling/ScanSet_TIFF_demo&vol=25&page=ED5A755 "Spoon."] ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition]]'', 1911. Viewing the linked scan requires the [http://www.alternatiff.com/ AlternaTiff plugin] in most browsers. ''This article incorporates text from this source, which is now in the [[public domain]].''</ref> Ancient [[India]]n texts also refer to the use of spoons. For example, the [[Rigveda]] refers to spoons during a passage describing the reflection of light as it "touches the spoon's mouth" ([[Rigveda|RV]] 8.43.10).<ref>{{cite journal|last=Hopkins|first=E. Washburn|date=1907|title=The Sniff-Kiss in Ancient India|journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society|publisher=American Oriental Society|volume=28|pages=120–134|url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/592764|doi=10.2307/592764}}</ref> Preserved examples of various forms of spoons used by the [[ancient Egypt]]ians include those composed of [[ivory]], [[flint]], [[slate]] and wood; many of them carved with religious symbols.<ref name="enc"/> The spoons of the [[Ancient Greece|Greek]]s and [[Ancient Rome|Roman]]s were chiefly made of bronze and silver and the handle usually takes the form of a spike or pointed stem.<ref name="enc"/> There are many examples in the [[British Museum]] from which the forms of the various types can be ascertained, the chief points of difference being found in the junction of the bowl with the handle.<ref name="enc"/>
[[Medieval]] spoons for domestic use were commonly made of [[cow horn]] or wood, but [[brass]], [[pewter]], and [[latten]] spoons appear to have been common in about the 15th century.<ref name="enc"/> The full descriptions and entries relating to [[silver]] spoons in the inventories of the royal and other households point to their special value and rarity.<ref name="enc"/> The earliest [[England|English]] reference appears to be in a will of 1259.<ref name="enc"/> In the wardrobe accounts of [[Edward I of England|Edward I]] for the year 1300 some gold and silver spoons marked with the ''[[fleur-de-lis]]'', the [[Paris]] mark, are mentioned.<ref name="enc"/> One of the most interesting medieval spoons is the coronation spoon used in the anointing of the English sovereign.<ref name="enc"/>
The sets of [[Apostle Spoons]], popular as christening presents in [[Tudor period|Tudor times]], the handles of which terminate in heads or busts of the apostles, are a special form to which [[antiquarian]] interest attaches.<ref name="enc"/> The earlier English spoon-handles terminate in an [[acorn]], plain knob or a [[diamond]]; at the end of the 16th century, the [[baluster]] and [[Seal (device)|seal]] ending becomes common, the bowl being [[fig]]-shaped.<ref name="enc"/> During [[English Restoration|The Restoration]]{{Fact|date=February 2007}}, the handle becomes broad and flat, the bowl is broad and oval and the termination is cut into the shape known as the [[Red Deer|hind]]s foot.<ref name="enc"/>
In the first quarter of the 18th century, the bowl becomes narrow and [[elliptical]], with a tongue or rat's tail down the back, and the handle is turned up at the end.<ref name="enc"/>
The modern form, with the tip of the bowl narrower than the base and the rounded end of the handle turned down, came into use about 1760.<ref name="enc"/>
==Types and uses==
[[Image:Spoonful of cereal.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Spoonful of [[breakfast cereal|cereal]]]]
{{seealso|List of types of spoons}}
Spoons are used primarily for eating [[liquid]] or semi-liquid foods, such as [[soup]], [[stew]], or [[ice cream]], and very small or powdery solid items which cannot be easily lifted with a fork, such as [[rice]], [[sugar]], [[cereals]] and [[green peas]]. In Southeast Asia, spoons are the primary utensil used for eating; forks are used only to push food onto the spoon.<ref>[http://www.satayusa.com/southchina.htm South China Seas Culture & Cuisine<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://uktv.co.uk/food/item/aid/534144 UKTV Food: Recipes: Southeast Asian cuisine<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> Spoons are also widely used in cooking and serving.
The [[teaspoon]] and [[tablespoon]] are used as standard [[units of measure]] for volume in [[Cooking weights and measures|cooking]]. The [[teaspoon]] is often used in a similar way to describe the dosage for [[Over-the-counter drug|over the counter medicines]]. A teaspoon is about 5ml and a table spoon about 15ml.
The [[souvenir spoon]] generally exists solely as a decorative object commemorating an event, place, or special date.
Spoons can also be [[Spoons (musical instrument)|used as a musical instrument]].
==Manufacture==
For machine-made spoons, the basic shape is cut out from a sheet of [[sterling silver]], nickel silver [[alloy]] or [[stainless steel]]. The bowl is cross rolled between two pressurized rollers to produce a thinner section. The handle section is also rolled to produce the width needed for the top end. The blank is then cropped to the required shape, and two dies are used to apply the pattern to the blank. The fash is then removed using a lynisher, and the bowl is formed between two dies and bent.
[[Handforging spoons]], on the other hand, is the traditional way to manufacture spoons. Spoons are also used for sports such as 'spooning', this consists of 2 or more participents balancing a spoon on the end of their nose, the longest holder wins.
==Popular Culture==
Comedian [[Eddie Izzard]] references spoons and, particularly, this webpage in his stand-up routines during a stint at Union Square Theater in New York City during February of 2008.
There is also a popular band, [[Spoon (band)]], that shares a name with this utensil (although their name was chosen for other reasons).
[[Spoons]] were also mentioned in an episode of [[Fawlty Towers]] entitled [[The Hotel Inspectors]], where actor [[Bernard Cribbins]] played an annoying [[spoon]] salesman who stayed in the hotel.
A UK Children's [[TV]] program, broadcast on [[ITV]], called [[Button Moon]] featured a [[family]] of [[spoons]] who regularly flew to [[Button Moon]].
In an episode of [[Malcolm in the Middle]], Malcolm wondered who invented the spoon. Stevie attempted to answer, but Reese butted in and said "Spoony Spoonicus."
== See also ==
{{Commonscat|Spoons}}
{{wikiquote}}
* [[Cutlery]]
* [[Spoon bending]]
== Sources ==
{{reflist}}
===Bibliography===
{{refbegin}}
* Bednersh, Wayne. ''Collectible Souvenir Spoons: The Grand Tour''. Collector Books, 2000. ISBN 978-1574321890.
Features broad array of collectible spoons from around the world, with values.
* Rainwater, Dorothy. ''Spoons From Around the World''. New York: Shiffer Publishing, 1992. ISBN 978-0887404252.
Contains historical information and photos of antique collectible spoons.
* Spark, Nick. ''Spoons West! Fred Harvey, the Navajo, and the Souvenir Spoons of the West 1890-1941''. Los Angeles, California: Periscope Film, 2007. ISBN 978-0978638894.
Historical overview of American souvenir spoons with detailed photographs.
{{refend}}
[[Category:Spoons|*]]
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