-
400
First Seen
The two-prong twig was perhaps the first fork. In Egyptian antiquity, large forks made of bronze were used at religious ceremonies to lift sacrificial offerings. -
400
The Disappearing of the Forks
After witnessing the princess use the fork, the church severely censured her, stating that the utensil was an affront to God's intentions for fingers. Thereafter the fork disappeared from the table for nearly 300 years. -
Jul 5, 1523
Re-Appearing of Forks
The exception was the 'sucket' fork, a utensil used to eat food that might otherwise stain the fingers, such as "a silvir forke for grene gynger" -
The First Dinner Forks
The first dinner forks were made with two flat prongs. The earliest two-prong fork to bear an English hallmark and engraved with a coat of arms, fork tines were made of case-hardened steel and were fast to wear down, early fork tines were extra long in length and made with sharp pointed tips. -
New Addition to Forks
The profile of the fork changed from flat to slightly curved, a shape that accommodated a scoop of soft food, such as peas. But three- and four-prong forks were slow to reach North America, where people continued to eat from a knife blade food that was difficult to spear with a two-prong fork, such as mashed potatoes and gravy. -
Thoughts About the Forks
The New York Ladies' Indispensable Assistant, published in 1852, gave general advice on eating with a fork, knife, and spoon: "If silver or wide pronged forks are used, (for fish), eat with the fish fork in the right hand—the knife is unnecessary. . . . If possible, the knife should never be put into the mouth at all, let the ledge be turned down. . . . The teeth should be picked as little as possible, and never with fork or fingers. . . . Eat peas with a dessert spoon; and curry also." -
Uses in the Ninteenth Century
Berries, birds, cake, cold meat, cucumbers, fish, ice cream, lettuce, lobster, oysters, pickles, salad, sardines, shellfish, strawberrys, souffle, terrapin, tomatoes, and to pass sliced bread at the tea table -
Todays Uses for the Fork
Today, depending on need, a set of flatware may contain five forks: dinner fork, fish fork, luncheon fork, salad or dessert fork, and seafood fork. But the collector may amass specialized forks—for eating lobster, fruit, dessert, ice cream, pastry, strawberries, snails, and oysters—from antique shops and specialty stores. -
No Forks Still
people stilll hadn't been using forks.
