U.S. Army Spoon?? Can anyone date it?

[time4me]

Just found this old spoon the other day. First pic shows the full spoon. Second picture shows the handle with "U.S." imprinted on it. Third picture shows maker mark on the back - "WALLACE N.S."

Is this a WWII army spoon, or could it be older than that?

 

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[Montana Jim]

Wallace, Nova Scotia?

Wallace, Naval Station?

 

[GpSnoopy]

I'll admit to not being too knowledgable about flatware. Wallace is/was one of the biggest American silverware makers since the mid 1800's. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallace_Silversmiths_Inc.

Wallace N.S. happens to be a town in Nova Scotia, but I think we can ignore that reference. The only other reference to N.S. I could find in conjuction with Wallace was the term Nickel Silver (sometimes called German silver, etc.) which actually contains no silver at all.

I further looked into mess kit utensils, but the common U.S. Military utensil had a teardrop hole in the handles, I presume for tying together or hanging up and this design has been used since WWI from what I could find, as shown in the example below.

Possibly regular military mess hall or canteen utensils, then?

 

[SHERMANVILLE ILLINOIS]

time4me,

cannot find it now; came across a spoon U.S on it

They are?/were? used in hospitals, veteran homes, mess halls, govt
type of operations. Not sure if they are still in use .

Think WW Two and on.

have a good un.....
SHERMANVILLE

 

[detector de metales]

Only Wallace N.S. is a silversmith of WALLACE & BALCOM from Halifax,
Not much more on them. The US on the front of the spoon intrigues me I think maybe they contracted to supply some of the utensils?
I found a few on the web that dated to WWI similar US markings on front but also had the US markings as hallmarks..
Interesting find..
J2

 

[Mr Tuff]

nice finds looks older then my grandads U.S.N. SPOON from ww2 that is stainless. urs looks plated... nice all the same

 

[tokenhead]

time4me,

cannot find it now; came across a spoon U.S on it

They are?/were? used in hospitals, veteran homes, mess halls, govt
type of operations. Not sure if they are still in use .

Think WW Two and on.

have a good un.....
SHERMANVILLE

Having been in the U.S.N. I would have to agree w/SHERMAVILLE,When in boot camp(1975)the utensils were the same shape/design(had been for yrs.)some read U.S.(as the one posted)and others read U.S.N.,soooo like i said"i would have to agree w/SHERMANVILLE",Oh and i was also in a NAVAL HOSPT.That had utensils w/JUST U.S. on them,HH Everybody!!!

 

[duggap]

For several years I hunted a site that had been used by the Ft Oglethorpe troops around the 1885 to 1900s. I found one trash pit with dozens of those utensils in it and they all had US on them. I doubt the military has changed those much in the last 125 years.

 

[pcolaboy]

Only Wallace N.S. is a silversmith of WALLACE & BALCOM from Halifax,
Not much more on them. The US on the front of the spoon intrigues me I think maybe they contracted to supply some of the utensils?
I found a few on the web that dated to WWI similar US markings on front but also had the US markings as hallmarks..
Interesting find..
J2

I agree that it was probably contracted. I've found US Navy issue plate shards from the 1870's that had a British company monogram on the rear.

Pcola

 

[Papa Bear]

I just found one this past weekend at a Civil War battlefield in NC. The thing that has me confused is that it was on the Confederate side of the river. I have the same question. When was it made?

 

[NOLA_Ken]

I have one the exact same shape and size (luckily I have a Swiss Army knife to compare it to) marked U.S.N. on the front with the letters OS in a diamond and the word Stainless. At least I think its OS way too tiny to be sure. Mine is definitely WW2 and was from a mess hall set. I'd post a pic, but my camera batteries are dead.

 

[Papa Bear]

Here is one on Ebay.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/WALLACE-N-S-SERVING-SPOON-ENGRAVED-U-S-/160610266725

I emailed the company that sells Wallace silverware to see if they can date our spoons.

 

[Kieth-Tx]

Found a smaller version in Louisiana on a Civil war site...and just like Papa Bear above mentioned...mine also was found on the Confederate side. Will look for a pic. Nice finds!

 

[DCMatt]

From an old auction:

FOR BID ARE 16 US MILITARY NICKEL SILVER SPOONS. THESE WERE BOUGHT AT A YARD SALE AROUND WEST POINT AREA. MOST LIKEY THEY ARE FROM T 3 ARE MARKED "WALLACE NS"

DCMatt

 

[Papa Bear]

I just found one this past weekend at a Civil War battlefield in NC. The thing that has me confused is that it was on the Confederate side of the river. I have the same question. When was it made?[/QUOTE

I have an explanation as to why my spoon was on the Confederate side. Apparent when the current landowner bought the property about 50 years ago (1960's), he was doing updates to the house that had stood there during the Civil War when an old lady in her later years (80's?) had pulled up. She had apparently grown up in the house and she relayed a story from her parents who as children had witnessed the Yankee Soldiers in the latter half of the war come by the property and steal everything except for a lame mule. That might explain the spoon with US on it that I found.