The Spoon Lady of Norfolk
They say that every weird and disturbing thing can be found somewhere on the Internet, but I googled toenail and fingernail spoons and got no relevant results. (Of course, anyone who googles those keywords will now find this post.)
The info in the clipping below about the old woman and her toenail spoons was credited to Time magazine. So I checked Time, and it did run a brief blurb about the Spoon Lady of Norfolk in its Dec 12, 1932 issue. But offered no more info, and didn't reveal its source. But there must be more details out there somewhere about this woman and her freaky cutlery.
The info in the clipping below about the old woman and her toenail spoons was credited to Time magazine. So I checked Time, and it did run a brief blurb about the Spoon Lady of Norfolk in its Dec 12, 1932 issue. But offered no more info, and didn't reveal its source. But there must be more details out there somewhere about this woman and her freaky cutlery.
La Plata Home Press - Jan 12, 1933
In Norfolk, England, lives an old woman with 20 spoons. The handles of twisted silver, ten small spoons are made of the fingernails of her late husband, ten large spoons of his toenails.
—Time (Dec 12, 1932)
—Time (Dec 12, 1932)
Comments
Times were rough back then and waste not, want not was the watchword of the day.
Anyhow, this may be a farce as I've seen every episode of Downton Abbey and they never mentioned them.
Anyhow, this may be a farce as I've seen every episode of Downton Abbey and they never mentioned them.
Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 03/03/16 at 10:19 AM
And they've not shown up on Antique's Roadshow UK either.
Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 03/03/16 at 10:20 AM
Normal for Norfolk...
Posted by Richard Bos on 03/03/16 at 03:43 PM
Caviar spoons are often made from bone, so I don't see why you couldn't make one (or 20) out of a fingernail(s).
Of course, just because you can doesn't mean you should.
I guess it's not really that much creepier than having a lock of a dead man's hair in a locket, and that's been an accepted practice since time immemorial.
Of course, just because you can doesn't mean you should.
I guess it's not really that much creepier than having a lock of a dead man's hair in a locket, and that's been an accepted practice since time immemorial.
Posted by Phideaux on 03/03/16 at 04:53 PM
Who doesn't have something creepy laying around. My mom freeze dried/stuffed our first dog. She was a white miniature poodle. Still to this day she remains in her plexiglass display case.
Posted by BrokeDad in Midwest US on 03/03/16 at 05:32 PM
"Wanna spoon?" has just changed its meaning for me.
Posted by Greg on 03/04/16 at 05:40 AM
I don't know about tableware, but I could see bundling toenails and fingernails together and attaching them to a stick to make a killer back scratcher. By the way, the first thing this story made me think of was the mummified captain found drifting in his "ghost ship", because in the photo that ran with the story, I immediately looked at his hands to see if his nails had kept growing, as supposedly happens. (If that labels me as weird, I wear the badge proudly.)
Posted by Fritz G on 03/04/16 at 08:40 AM
Did anyone check the cupboard to see if she had any craniums (cranii?) used as bowls?
Posted by KDP on 03/04/16 at 09:44 AM
@Fritz: Hair & nails don't grow after death but the skin & meat shrink during desiccation thus creating this illusion. Unless, of course, the corpse becomes a zombie and gets ahold of some live flesh then all bets are off.
Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 03/04/16 at 10:20 AM
But Phideaux, the lock in the locket never touches my FOOD!!!! :sick:
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 03/05/16 at 12:45 AM
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Category: 1930s