Name: ____________________________ Date: _______________
Worksheet: Make it Yourself! Make it Yourself!
The Spoon Game
During colonial times in America, the marrow inside the bones of meat was considered a delicacy. If you wanted to get the marrow out of a narrow bone, what kind of utensil would you make?
Before you begin, make sure you…
Consider the necessary size
Consider the appropriate material
Consider design
Name: ____________________________ Date: _______________
Worksheet: Make it Yourself!
Make it Yourself!
The Spoon Game
What did you choose? Draw your marrow spoon here:
In colonial America, the Boston silversmith Nathaniel Hurd made a marrow spoon.
His marrow spoon consisted of parts: C + 5
His marrow spoon was perfect for the job!
Size:
Colonial Americans ate the marrow out of beef bones. Hurd’s spoon is the right size for dealing with beef bones. What would the spoon have looked like if they were eating the marrow out of elephant bones?!
Materials:
The marrow spoon is made of silver. This is because marrow was a delicacy, and meat was a luxury only the rich could afford on a regular basis. The marrow spoon is made of silver because that would fit in best with the rest of the fancy silver dishes and utensils on a dining room table. Besides, if you made a marrow spoon in wood, clay, or glass, it would probably break while digging inside the bone. And plastic? Well, that’s a modern invention. Plastic didn’t exist in colonial America.
Design:
Unlike regular utensils, Hurd designed his marrow spoon with spoon wells on both ends! Why would he do this? Well, as you can see, the two wells are similar shapes but one side is more shallow and narrow. This is to get into thinner bones. The other size is slightly wider and deeper. This is for when there is a larger bone that has more marrow. Marrow was considered a delicacy, and they didn’t want to miss a bite! How would it look if you designed a double-ended spoon for eating ice cream?
As you can see, when Hurd was designing his marrow spoon he thought first about how the spoon was going to be used, and then he decided on the size, material, and design that would make the best spoon for digging marrow out of bones.
What’s your favorite thing to eat? Try designing a new utensil to make eating it easier and more fun! Think about how you can use different sizes, materials, and designs to make the best utensil for your favorite food.
Name: ____________________________ Date: _______________
Worksheet: Make it Yourself!
Make it Yourself!
The Spoon Game
During colonial times, tea was very precious because it had to be shipped on long, dangerous trips over the Atlantic Ocean. Because tea cost so much money, mostly upper class people drank it and eventually drinking tea became a sign of social status. This tiny teacup shows how little tea was served at tea parties. This was to save the expensive tea. If you wanted to design a teaspoon to stir your tea with, what would it look like?
Before you begin, make sure you…
Consider size small
medium
large
long
short
thick
thin
Consider material wood
silver
glass
clay
plastic
Consider design fancy
plain
Name: ____________________________ Date: _______________
Worksheet: Make it Yourself!
Make it Yourself!
The Spoon Game
What did you choose? Draw your teaspoon here:
In colonial Boston, Nathaniel Hurd made a teaspoon.
His teaspoon consists of parts: B + 2
As you will see, the way Nathaniel Hurd made this teaspoon makes a lot of sense!
Size:
This teaspoon is very small. Why would he make a spoon so small? Well, as you can tell, the teacups in colonial America were tiny! Remember? Tea was expensive, so they wouldn’t serve a lot at once.
Materials:
This teaspoon is made in silver, just as many of the colonial American teapots were. This was one of the ways rich people could show off their wealth. The teaspoons made of silver also show us how important drinking tea was to colonial Americans. If drinking tea wasn’t important, then they might have made their teaspoons and teapots out of ceramics. If you could make one thing out of silver, what would it be? What does that say about what you think is important?
Design:
The well of this teaspoon is very shallow. How useful could a spoon be with such a shallow well? What did they use to scoop up their sugar if not the teaspoon? Colonial Americans bought sugar in solid cones. They cut these cones into little cubes that they would put into their tea. So they didn’t need their spoons to get sugar, it made more sense for them to use tongs to pick up their sugar cubes! (tongs – a grasping device made of two pieces joined at one end by a hinge.)
Usually the decoration on teaspoons was fancier than the designs found on regular spoons. Because tea time was a time to entertain, wealthy people would make sure they had the fanciest tea sets to show off to their friends. Have you ever been over to a friend’s house who wanted to show you their fancy or expensive belongings? What were they?
As you can see, the way Nathaniel Hurd chose the size, materials, and design of the spoon was based on the way the spoon was going to be used. What other things can you think of that are designed based on their use?
So, what do you think? Did Nathaniel Hurd know what he was doing? If you think you have a better idea, design your very own teaspoon here: