Spring Cleaning Downton Abbey Style

I have finally made it up to the top shelves and the deep, dark and dusty shelves of my kitchen.  After throwing out plastic plates and some containers, I found the wooden box that I had known was there but forgotten about. I had used the contents a half dozen times in my mid-married years and then got very busy and put it up and away.

I had forgotten how heavy it was and it was a bit of a balance as I climbed down my small kitchen stairs to put it on the counter. Many of you already know what is inside.

It was a second marriage for both mother-in-law and my father-in-law. They were young and up and coming in Detroit. This was a wedding gift maybe or being as my father-in-law was a blustery man who liked to impress, perhaps he bought it for his wife one anniversary?

It is a very large set of silverplate/silverware? by Kirk which was a famous manufacturer. I think my mother-in-law said it was silver plate, but it looks like silver to me. "Founded in 1815, in 1970, Samuel Kirk’s company was “America’s Oldest Silversmiths."   “America’s Oldest Silversmith” was acquired in 1979 by The Stieff Company and was renamed The Kirk Stieff Company. Operations at the old Kirk Avenue factory were quickly moved into the more modern Stieff factory in the Hamden section of Baltimore."  There is even a cool book on the Internet that I may print out.

I see the larger set of silverware selling on E-Bay for between $1,500 and $2,000 dollars and this set is huge with even more in storage beneath. I called my daughter and told her it was hers to inherit because I will never spend the needed time cleaning silver or having enough formal parties to justify such use. It seems such a shame to just let it sit in a brown box for more decades. She wanted it and I hope she uses it. She entertains far more than I.  Sending it to a more appreciative home.  Some of the flatware even has grandma's initials.