Evolution of the Knife, Fork and Spoon
The evolution of the knife, fork and spoon is one of great interest. Spoons were used long before knives and forks. According to historical evidence, they are probably as old as civilization itself. The first spoons were natural shells - and the shell-shaped bowl has been a popular design for spoons during many periods. Greeks and Romans used spoons of bronze and silver, with handles in the form of spikes. The first English reference to a silver spoon occurs in a will dated 1259. In the 1400's, people carried their eating utensils with them. Even the very wealthy did not attempt to provide spoons for their guests as a common practice, but a few of the royalty and nobility did have sufficient silverware to provide for guests. For a long time spoons were practically the only implements represented.
Well to do peasants’ cupboards usually had a shelf of silver spoons. The wealthy and noblemen had locked cabinets or vaults in which they kept their silverware. In periods of strife, people buried their silver either in the ground or in parts of the house. Many times it was not unearthed until generations later if at all. Sometimes it was never found.
It is not definitely known whether some of the early knives were put into practical use by the owners when eating. They were used to cut meat or other foods prior to serving them, but we are told that they were not part of the individual’s eating equipment. When they finally began to be used that way, the same knife which served as a weapon also served for eating purposes, being carried at the belt. The first table knives were very pointed, and food was stabbed as a method of getting it to the mouth.
The design of the fork is very ancient and large forks are referred to as having been found in the remains of early civilization, but these were used as weapons and not for eating. It seems logical to suppose that man used a one or two pronged fork in the form of a stick to hold food over a fire, and food was often eaten right from the stick. In the early 16th Century the fork appeared in Italy, among a few of the members of the nobility and upper classes. The fork was not taken up immediately by the common people because its use was regarded as effeminate. Forks with one, two, three or four prongs were among the very early models, but two-pronged forks were perhaps more common. The clergy even protested it as a sacrilege, in that it provided a substitute for the God-given fingers. However, the usefulness of the fork won it a permanent place at the table against all protest.