Daniel Low & Co. - Salem, Mass.

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The firm of Daniel Low & Co. can be traced back to 1867. They were one of the first to introduce souvenir spoons to an eager American public, their 'Witch' spoon being their first, sold as a memento of a visit to the home of American witchcraft, the town of Salem.

Daniel Low & Co. were very much aware of the power of advertising, and made heavy use of it. Below is a selection of their advertisements:


Daniel Low - Salem, Mass. - 1880


Daniel Low - Salem, Mass. - 1891


Daniel Low & Co. - Salem, Mass. - 1896


Daniel Low & Co. - Salem, Mass. - 1896


Daniel Low & Co. - Salem, Mass. - 1898


Daniel Low & Co. - Salem, Mass. - 1904


Daniel Low & Co. - Salem, Mass. - 1904


Daniel Low & Co. - Salem, Mass. - 1908


Daniel Low & Co. - Salem, Mass. - 1912


Daniel Low & Co. - Salem, Mass. - 1913


Daniel Low & Co. - Salem, Mass. - 1914

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The Witch Orange Spoon - Second Pattern - 1891


The Witch Coffee Spoon - Second Pattern - 1891


The Witch Teaspoon - Second Pattern - 1891


Daniel Low - Salem, Mass. - 1894


Daniel Low & Co. - Salem, Mass. - 1904

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Daniel Low - Salem, Mass. - 1892


Daniel Low & Co. - Salem, Mass. - 1914

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[larkfield]

Just a comment on the Witch spoon : I have a Witch Coffee Spoon as per the Second Pattern - 1891 picture.
for information has the Gorham mark for last quarter 19th century.
Does anyone have information on the first pattern issued and if so a picture of it?

[wev]

A badly damage example

[dragonflywink]

Have a few other D. Low witch spoon ads somewhere in my files, but these were already loaded to a host: the first two ads are from 1891, the third is a 1908 catalog page reprinted in Rainwater's American Spoons. If you're looking for a photo of an actual spoon (in better condition than wev's example), my Halloween baby Mom has the orange spoon in both patterns - can try to remember to take a pic next time I'm over there.....







~Cheryl

[Jag]

Here's a picture of Witch Pattern 1 in better condition, along with the mark.

[dognose]

Hi Jag,

Many thanks for sharing these excellent images.

Regards Trev.

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Daniel Low & Co. - Salem, Mass. - 1911

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Daniel Low & Co. - Salem, Mass. - 1912


Daniel Low & Co. - Salem, Mass. - 1916

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A couple of pages of designs from Daniel Low and Company:


Daniel Low & Co. - Salem, Mass. - 1917


Daniel Low & Co. - Salem, Mass. - 1917

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THE "WITCH" SPOON

First Pattern

This spoon was the first to be made from a special die, of a design suggestive of some particular place, and it has since become the most celebrated of the souvenir spoons. On the handle is the figure of a Reg. Trade-Mark. Witch, the word " Salem," and three witch pins, of the same size and shape as those preserved in the Court House, at Salem. Here also may be seen many of the original documents relating to the witchcraft trials, among them the death warrant of Bridget Bishop. Salem and its surrounding towns were among the earliest settlements in America, and is of more interest historically than any other section of this country. Salem is visited every year by an increasing number of people to see the old landmarks and its old houses, especially those connected with the witchcraft delusion. The Roger Williams House, better known as the old "witch house," this house was built for Roger Williams, minister of the First Church from 163 1 to 1635, and in its rooms tradition says were held preliminary examinations of those charged with witchcraft in 1692. This is the oldest house standing in Salem, or in this section. Samuel Shattuck's house, built before 1660, figures in the witchcraft trials. Gallows Hill was the scene of the nineteen executions. "The place of execution was a high hill," says Hawthorne, "on the outskirts of Salem, so that many of the sufferers, as they stood beneath the gallows, could discern their own habitations in the town; but the martyrdom of these guiltless persons seemed only to increase the madness."

Salem is so well known the world over, and so many of her sons and daughters are to be found in every State, that this spoon has had the largest sale of any of the souvenir spoons.

"One of the presents received by Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes on his eighty-first birthday was a gold-lined silver spoon, the handle of which bears a witch on a broomstick, the word ' Salem, and the emblematic witch pins crossed. It came from a lady as a token of Dr. Holmes's latest poem, the ' Broomstick Train." Boston Evening Transcript.

This pattern is made only in sterling silver and in a great variety of pieces. These are of very desirable shapes and of the finest workmanship. They are made only by Daniel Low, 231 Essex Street, Salem, Mass. His establishment is on the corner of the two principal streets, in the First Church Building. The First Congregational Society is one of the oldest in America, their first church being erected on that same spot in 1634.

Source: Souvenir Spoons - George B. James Jnr. - 1891

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THE "WITCH" SPOON

Second Pattern

One of the most curious facts in the history of our early colonial times was the Salem witchcraft delusion. Every nation at some time has peculiar superstitions, but at this period of the world's history the entire English-speaking community seems to have been crazed over the subject of witchcraft.
In Salem, Mass., nineteen persons were hanged for witchcraft ; eight more were condemned, and fifty confessed themselves to be witches, and were pardoned in 1692. Many books have been written regarding this peculiar state of the human mind that would allow people to avow themselves to be what they
absolutely knew they were not. Old and ill-favored women were suspected and accused of practising sorcery ; while even the governor's wife, Lady Phipps, did not suffer to escape from the general accusations. At last the spell was broken, and a large number of the accusers came forward and publicly published solemn recantations of the truth of their testimony, while the public, being then thoroughly aroused over the innocence of the accused, were only saved from doing violence to the accusers by their denials of the truth of their testimony. At the Court House in Salem one may see a bottle containing the original pins which were used in the trials where the accuser swore that that pin was used on him as a means of torture by a witch. Here are also preserved the death warrants returned by the sheriff, as executed, and other documents of similar interest.

A second pattern of the famous Witch Spoon has' been made; on the handle are all the features connected with the witchcraft delusion ; the place and date, the cat, the broom, the rope, the witch pins, the new moon, and, surmounting all, the witch. The reverse side carries out the idea of the front, making a spoon of heavy weight, but of such good shape that it can be conveniently used. The Orange Spoon, with its deep bowl and sharp point, being especially practicable. These are made in sterling silver of a very heavy weight and of the finest workmanship.

Source: Souvenir Spoons - George B. James Jnr. - 1891

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Perhaps one of the last advertisements from Daniel Low & Co.


Daniel Low & Co. - Salem, Mass. - 1922

This one is from November 1922.

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Daniel Low & Co. - Salem, Mass. - 1903

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Daniel Low & Co. - Salem, Mass. - 1903

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Daniel Low & Co. - Salem, Mass. - 1921

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Daniel Low & Co. - Salem, Mass. - 1904

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Daniel Low - Salem, Mass. - 1893

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Daniel Low - Salem, Mass. - 1907

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