Sold: Fly Spoon

Joke spoon with embedded fly, c. 1930s. The jokester would serve a bowl of soup with the gag spoon in place, giving the diner a start (and perhaps a shirt splatter) with the first sip. Given its timeworn condition, the spoon appears to have been oddly well used given that it was manufactured as a gag. The fly is apparently plastic and mounted on a pin, allowing it to rotate in the bowl.

Tarnished and with much of the silverplate worn away, the spoon seems to embody a kind of pessimism, the depressive hopelessness of universal rotten luck: not only is a fly in my soup, the fly will always be in my soup, and indeed, I will put it there. But in its silly way, the spoon reminds us that our experiential perspective is arbitrary and changeable. Aware of the pathetic joke by our own hand, we can choose to exchange the self-imposed fly for a clean utensil and begin the next course without the unpleasant expected surprise.

Measurements

6 inches long

1 1/4 inches wide

Condition

Well worn vintage condition with loss of silver plate. Displays well.

Shipping

Free in the continental United States. If an international buyer, please contact me for a shipping estimate by clicking here.