From time to time, we like to highlight sterling flatware pieces one does not often see. Today, it's the Toast Fork. We've never actually seen one - or at least, if we did, we did not know what we were seeing!
The toast fork in the picture accompanying this article was illustrated in the Gorham Buttercup catalog published in 1900. It is roughly 7 1/2 inches long and 2 5/8 inches wide at its widest point. It would not be unreasonable to mistake this piece for a salad serving fork. However, in the same Gorham catalog mentioned above, the "small" salad serving fork was about 8 1/2 inches long.
Now, I doubt the toast fork was used to remove toasted bread from an electric toaster even though such a device had been invented in 1893 in Scotland! I'm wondering if I shouldn't expand my thinking regarding exactly what was considered toast. Would it include toasted English muffins, French toast or perhaps some other heated bread item? It makes more sense to have a toast fork in such cases.
Comments are welcome with other thoughts.
