El Unico Orange Knife

This advertisement from The Century magazine from 1894 shows another Victorian way of dealing with the orange.  The knife is steel and is silver plated. The handle is sold in ivory, pearl, celluloid, sterling and silverplate. It "has a fine saw edge" and can "cut orange and grapefruit smoothly without releasing any bitter oils from the skin".

Other than this advertisement I have never heard of El Unico of St. Augustine Florida. Rainwater nor any other of my references mention this maker. It is possible that they are a reseller. However, te blade is stamped with their mark. To be honest again if someone brought me this knife I would probably confuse it with a cheese knife which it closely resembles. 

Holmes & Edwards Silver Company Advertisement for the Waldorf Pattern

This is a advertisement for the Holmes & Edwards Silver Co. Waldorf pattern. It appears in The Century in 1894. It is an Easter advertisement urging surprise on the morning of  or surprising that "particular friend".  One of course wonders what that is a euphemism for. 

J.H. Johnston & Co. Advertisement 1894

This is an advertisement for the J.H. Johnston & Company for a variety of silver novelties.  They have their offices in Union Square New York and show a wide variety of silver goods. This advertisement appears in The Century magazine in 1894.  My favourite piece here is the "Cleopatra" pen rest in the shape of a snake and I am guessing an asp. The advertisement also features an ink eraser.

Spaulding & Company Sterling Silverware Advertisement

This is an advertisement in The Century magazine from 1894 from Spaulding & Company Inc. for their sterling flatware. They claim addresses in Paris and Chicago.

Simpson, Hall, Miller & Company Almond Bowl 1894

This is an advertisement for an almond bowl from Simpson, Hall, Miller & Co. This advertisement appears in The Century magazine in 1894. What is interesting here besides this unusual Victorian piece of silverplate is the advertisement mentions the unnecessary nature of luxury goods.

It claims that fine china and silver make life better by their aesthetic qualities "Life Brightening". It also instructs the reader in the use of the almond bowl where the almonds are placed in the middle nut bowl and then distributed into the cups on the edge for the individual. To be honest, if I came across this piece for sale I would have had no idea what it was originally used for.

Pairpoint Mfg. Co. Advertisement 1896

This is an advertisement form the Pairpoint Manufacturing Co. that appears in Century magazine in 1896. It highlights a child's bowl and plate. It also mentions orange bowls, tea sets, tureens and bakers.