The butter knife has a most interesting history. It also offers a look into various countries and their cultures. Enjoy this digest version of Butter Knife Trivia.
We have a large selection of butter knives. Pictured here are several sterling silver pieces.
One interesting story tells us that Cardinal Richelieu was the first to create the butter knife.
According to Today in Science (a website I use quite often to find some arbitrary scientific topic for my daily blog) today, 13 May, is the day in 1637 that the table knife was created by Cardinal Richelieu of France.
from ScienceLENS.co.NZ
… The story goes that Cardinal Richelieu got irritated by the brutish behaviour of men at the dining tables of the time, stabbing their daggers (which doubled as table cutlery) into chunks of meat and other food, or into the table, for that matter, if they needed their hands free. And even worse was their despicable habit of using the sharp daggers to pick their teeth at the end of the meal. To put an end to this behaviour, he ordered his kitchen staff to file off the sharp points of all the house knifes. The idea caught on, and it wasn’t long before this new style of rounded table knife became a trendy dinner accessory in upperclass French households.
There is a difference between a butter knife and a butter spreader.
The butter serving knife sits with the butter dish. It usually has a pointy end and is meant for someone to poke a piece of butter pat and place it on a bread plate and then return to the butter dish. The butter spreader which sits at each place setting and has a rounded end, is used to spread the butter at each individual place setting. The little cut out in the knife is to prevent the bread from tearing, and the butter doesn’t stick to the knife for an easy spread. Sometimes there is a little cut out in the butter serving knife as well which in that case it is just so the butter doesn’t stick to the knife for an easy transfer.
from silversuperstore.com
Now you are a butter knife trivia expert! Please stop by and see our collection as you browse our shop and also view our Havre de Grace History MuZeum collection. We’re here … and yessirree… we’re watchin’ for ya!
