You'll Never Guess What You Use This Silverware for

Tongs and serving spoons are about as exotic as our dinnerware service style can get. But it wasn't always so simplistic.
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You use a ladle for gravy, a butter knife for your bread and a serving spoon for your vegetables but what about all those other serving tools in your drawers? Maybe you only use them at Thanksgiving, when it's time to polish your silverware or clean out your cutlery drawer. It's definitely not every day that you use utensils like a crumber, a jelly trowel or a baked potato fork. Heck, you might not even know what they are!

If you're saying "huh?" you're not alone.

Gone are the days when tabletops were dressed for dinner with butter picks, bon bon spoons and food pushers. Nowadays all we know and use are forks, spoons and knives. Tongs and serving spoons are about as exotic as our dinnerware service style can get. But it wasn't always so simplistic.

Ready to find out about the other eating and serving instruments used in more formal times? And no, we're not talking about sporks either. While that weird, yet oddly handle spoon-fork combo tool is useful, it's not exactly a head scratcher, which has you wondering, "what's that for?"

Still some silverware is so antiquated you might have to ask your grandmother if she remembers it. For example, why would you need grape shears? Or a chocolate muddler?

Many of these pieces of silverware are still readily available today. Others are vintage and can be pretty pricey.

Do you have any of these silverware gems in your cabinet? If so, it might be time to inspect your collection and polish your silver. You might even finally figure out what some of the tools are really for and get inspired to host a formal dinner using these vintage tools that were popular long ago.

Read on as we familiarize you with 5 pieces of silverware you're not sure why you need or what they do.

1
Food Pusher
This is one interesting piece of silverware. Food Pushers were common in Victorian society when it was rude for anyone, even children, to touch food with their hands. Kids were given food pushers to help them rake their dinner onto their fork.
Photo Credit: ebay/DesignsbyDejardin
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2
Bon Bon Spoon
Licking your fingers while touching bon bons can be a messy, impolite thing to do. A bon bon spoon or scoop could've helped you scoop up your chocolates without fuss.
Photo Credit: ebay/DVDathms
3
Baked Potato Fork
If you’re wondering what the proper way to handle a baked potato was, you's need to invest in a baked potato fork. This serving tool features two long prongs, which was perfect for spearing and passing steaming hot baked potatoes.
Photo Credit: ebay/shayhoward
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4
Butter Pick
These tools, which aren’t very popular anymore, look like corkscrews at the end. Butter picks are a narrow utensil with a spiraled end and are ideal for picking up pats of butter.
Photo Credit: ebay/nlm1992
5
Chocolate Muddler
Hot chocolate enthusiasts mayknow a chocolate muddler is used to stir chocolate from the bottom of the pot. These long utensils (about eight inches long, compared to five or six inch spoons) keep the chocolate from settling, which made for a well-mixed hot drink.
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Photo Credit: ebay/Duvallsterling

-Kristen Castillo, The Daily Meal

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How to Set a Formal Table Properly

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