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Gorham Buttercup Sterling Silver Luncheon Knife $19.99 |
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Gorham Buttercup Sterling Silver Teaspoon Old LAG Marks $19.99 |
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Gorham Buttercup Sterling Silver Place Fork Old LAG Marks $39.99 |
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GORHAM ST. CLOUD STERLING SILVER SALT SPOON ~A $82.99 |
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Antique 1897 Gorham LANCASTER Sterling Silver Master Butter Knife Monogrammed $50.00 |
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4 Antique Gorham Madam Jumel Sterling Silver Handled Dinner Knives1909 Monogram $100.00 |
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Elegant Gorham Sterling Repousse’ Hair Brush and Matching Sterling Backed Comb $195.00 |
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GORHAM GREENBRIER STERLING SILVER SALT SPOON ~A $20.52 |
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LOT OF 2 GORHAM CHANTILLY STERLING SILVER SALT SPOONS ~A $33.00 |
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SET OF 2 .925 STERLING SILVER WEIGHTED GORHAM TRIPLE CANDELABRAS – 1048 GRAMS $202.50 |
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Antique Gorham Madam Jumel Sterling Silver Handled Dinner Knives1909 Monogram $25.00 |
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Gorham Sterling 1995 SNOWFLAKE ORNAMENT $95.00 |
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Gorham Sterling Silver Cold Meat Fork and Serving Spoon CHANTILLY $225.00 |
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Gorham Chantilly Sterling Silver Serving Spoon 8 1/2″, No Monogram. Old Mark $79.99 |
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CERES/WHEAT II-STEGOR GORHAM FLAT SERVER-SILVERPLATE = K1035 $22.99 |
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LA SCALA- GORHAM STERLING GRAVY LADLE $189.99 |
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Gorham Etruscan Sterling Silver Medium Cold Meat Fork $99.99 |
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Gorham Chantilly Sterling Silver Serving Spoon 8 1/2″, No Monogram, Old Marks $79.99 |
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SET OF 2 GENUINE .925 STERLING SILVER PEPPER SALT SHAKERS – GORHAM? – 15.9 GRAMS $9.59 |
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MYTHOLOGIQUE BY GORHAM STERLING FRUIT KNIFE 7 1/4″ HHWS $129.00 |
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MYTHOLOGIQUE BY GORHAM STERLING ICE CREAM FORK 5 3/8″ $129.00 |
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Melrose by Gorham Sterling Silver Flatware – 7 1/4″ Fork No Mono. B2A5 $119.95 |
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Melrose by Gorham Sterling Silver Flatware – Gravy Ladle 6 5/8″ No Monogram B2A3 $84.95 |
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Melrose by Gorham Sterling Silver Flatware – 6 7/8″ Fork No Mono. B2A1 $75.98 |
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Melrose by Gorham Sterling Silver Flatware – Cake/Pie Server 10.25″ No Mono. $57.98 |
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PLYMOUTH- GORHAM 4PC STERLING PLACE SETTING $218.99 |
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Gorham Sterling Silver Cake Servers in the Buttercup Pattern $25.00 |
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Antique Luxembourg by Gorham Grapefruit/Citrus Spoon Solid Sterling Silver $49.00 |
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GORHAM silver PURITAN sterling 3-Lite BRANCH CANDLE $199.95 |
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PLYMOUTH- GORHAM STERLING ICE TEA SPOON(S) $49.99 |
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Gorham Sterling Silver Baby Spoon in Chantilly Pattern $37.00 |
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Antique Sterling Silver Gorham Whiting Coffin Ended Teaspoons Madame Jumel (6) $180.00 |
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PAIR OF VINTAGE GORHAM STERLING SALT AND PEPPER SHAKERS $80.00 |
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ANTIQUE ART DECO GORHAM SILVERPLATE SALAD FORK ~SHEFFIELD PATTERN~ $6.95 |
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PLYMOUTH- GORHAM STERLING COLD MEAT FORK $109.99 |
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Gorham Sterling Silver Bon Bon Candy Heart Shaped Bowl Dish 5″ #966 $46.00 |
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Gorham Sea Rose Sterling Flatware Serving Set pick your peices 39.99 a piece $39.99 |
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Gorham Sterling Strasbourg Salt Spoon Pin Brooch EX $34.99 |
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CELESTE- GORHAM STERLING COLD MEAT FORK $109.99 |
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PLYMOUTH- GORHAM STERLING CHIPPED BEEF FORK $64.99 |
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PATRICIAN – GORHAM 4 STERLING ICE CREAM FORKS $259.99 |
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2 – ANTIQUE STERLING DEMITASSE TEA SPOONS marked GORHAM $31.01 |
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Antique 1900 Gorham Sterling Silver BUTTERCUP Spoon & Master Butter Knife 2-3/8o $85.00 |
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CELESTE -GORHAM STERLING TABLE SPOON $109.99 |
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Lot of 2 Antique 1899 Gorham Sterling Cambridge Pickle/Olive Forks 1-1/2 oz $80.00 |
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DECOR – GORHAM STERLING CREAM SOUP SPOON(S) $84.99 |
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Set of 2- King George Ice Tea Spoons By Gorham Sterling Silver $82.00 |
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1895 GORHAM REPOUSSE STERLING SILVER LARGE BOX 7.4 OZ. $399.99 |
Could luxury items–such as a 70+ piece set of Birks sterling flatware–be purchased during WWII?
Could someone please explain how my (American) grandmama was able to purchase from Birks-Dingwall in Winnipeg, Canada (via mail) a 70+ piece set of Birks George II sterling flatware just a few weeks after our soldiers hit the beaches of Normady? In the US and UK citizens were turning in their non-essential metals to melt into bullets, guns, planes, and tanks. Wouldn’t sterling silver have been: (1) wanted by the Canadian Govt for the war effort, (2) a rationed item, or (3) such a scarce item it would have been “kept back” for a Canadian and not sold to a common American housewife in Idaho? Apparently R.G. Morrow of Birks-Dingwell, Winnipeg took her cheque for $249.53–I have receipt–wrote a nice note and sent it and a heavy chest of Canadian sterling flatware to her in Sandpoint, Idaho. Grandaddy–Winnipeg-born, US-naturalized, yet forever a Canadian–insisted any silver bought MUST be bought at Birks. Yet the question…How’d she buy a precious metal luxury item during WWII?
Grandmama’s silver may have been prewar stock. Merchants did not have to melt down their existing inventories. My parents married in 1943. My mother found an obscure rural hardware store full of prewar merchandise. She was able to purchase aluminum pans and Christmas lights (copper wire). I don’t think a non-essential luxury item would have been rationed. If you could find sterling silver and afford it, you could buy it.
Since it happened, cross border sales must have been allowed. It would not surprise me if Birks-Digwell for patriotic reasons chose to not sell to non-Canadians. Grandaddy’s roots may have circumvented that. On an unpatriotic note, international sales may not have been subject to any price controls.
Birks acquired Gorham’s Canadian operations around 1907. There are patterns that are identical but have distinct Birks and Gorham pattern names. The question is, who actually manufactured the flatware? I don’t know. Flatware sold in Canada but actually made in the US could be sold back there with no problem?
I agree, one would not expect sterling flatware to have been manufactured during WWII. The raw materials, craftsmen and machinery would have been too important to the war effort. Last week I found a tid-bit that contradicts this. Westmorland Sterling produced flatware during WWII with the V for victory in Morse code. Following the word sterling, 3 dots and a dash was on the bottom of pieces. You may be able to find some pictures showing this at the source below.
I think I raised more questions than I answered.
