{"product_id":"victorian-1865-1898-gold-plated-louisiana-purchase-spoon-wm-rogers-co","title":"Vintage 1960s-1970s Wm Rogers Presidents Series Thomas Jefferson Spoon ✨ Louisiana Purchase Bowl","description":"\u003cdiv style=\"max-width:315px;margin:0 auto 20px;\"\u003e\u003cdiv style=\"position:relative;padding-bottom:177.78%;height:0;overflow:hidden;\"\u003e\u003ciframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9WIYggrR7SA\" style=\"position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer;autoplay;clipboard-write;encrypted-media;gyroscope;picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003eWhat Was Jefferson's $15 Million Gamble? 🥄 Jefferson's $15 Million Gamble, Struck Into a Spoon\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eSize:\u003c\/strong\u003e 6\" long\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn the spring of 1803 two American diplomats in Paris were authorized to spend up to $10 million on New Orleans and the Floridas. They came home having agreed to pay $15 million for 828,000 square miles — the whole Louisiana Territory — and handed Thomas Jefferson a deal he privately thought the Constitution might not even allow. This Wm. Rogers Mfg. Co. presidential spoon carries that moment: Jefferson's portrait on the handle, and the map of the country he doubled pressed into the bowl under the year 1803.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003chr\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003e🔍 What Is on the Spoon\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cul\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBowl:\u003c\/strong\u003e the date 1803 at the top, a relief map of the United States with the Louisiana Purchase territory hatched, and LOUISIANA PURCHASE along the lower edge\u003c\/li\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eHandle front:\u003c\/strong\u003e a bust of Jefferson in an oval frame with laurel and a spray of ornament beneath\u003c\/li\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eStem:\u003c\/strong\u003e THOMAS JEFFERSON pressed into the metal\u003c\/li\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBack of handle:\u003c\/strong\u003e WM ROGERS MFG. CO. with a small second mark beside it\u003c\/li\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eFinish:\u003c\/strong\u003e gold-toned over the base metal\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003chr\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003e🇺🇸 The Presidential Series\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWm. Rogers made this spoon as one of a run of presidential spoons, all built the same way: the president's bust on the handle tip, his name down the stem, and a scene from his term in the bowl. Jefferson's scene is the Purchase. Kennedy's bowl shows the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Collectors document sets of 34 spoons ending with John F. Kennedy and sets of 36 ending with Richard M. Nixon, and dealers find Hoover in the same style — these presidential sets were produced in the 1960s and early 1970s, when a family could fill a spoon rack one president at a time.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003chr\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003e🏭 The Company — Wm. Rogers of Hartford\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn 1865 William Rogers went to Hartford, Connecticut, and formed the William Rogers Manufacturing Company with his son William Rogers Jr., along with Thomas Birch, William J. Pierce and William H. Watrous. The firm marked its wares \"Wm. Rogers \u0026amp; Son\" and \"Wm. Rogers Mfg. Co.\" The Rogers name carried so much weight in American silverplate that several related and unrelated companies used it, and collectors still sort out \"the Rogers confusion\" by reading the exact mark — this one is WM ROGERS MFG. CO.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn 1898 a group of independent New England silversmiths joined to form the International Silver Company of Meriden, Connecticut, and Wm. Rogers Mfg. Co. became one of its brands. The presidential spoons were offered under that umbrella.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003chr\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003e🗺️ The Louisiana Purchase — What the Bowl Remembers\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eRobert Livingston and James Monroe signed the Louisiana Purchase Treaty in Paris on April 30, 1803. Napoleon had already decided to sell, to protect France's Caribbean holdings and pay for his wars in Europe, and when the whole territory was offered the Americans agreed on the spot. For $15 million the United States bought about 828,000 square miles west of the Mississippi.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eJefferson, a strict reader of the Constitution, wrote that \"an amendment of the Constitution seems necessary for this.\" His cabinet argued the treaty power already covered it, and he let the deal go through. The purchase changed the shape of the nation — it doubled the country and opened the way west for the century that followed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003chr\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003e🎡 The Lore of the Souvenir Spoon — and the 1904 Fair\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAmerican souvenir spoons have their own origin story. M. W. Galt Bro. \u0026amp; Co. made the first one in the United States in 1889 — a George Washington spoon — and followed it with Martha Washington. Then Seth F. Low saw souvenir spoons in Germany, came home and designed the Salem Witch Spoon for his father's firm, Daniel Low \u0026amp; Co., trademarked January 13, 1891. Low ran ads in newspapers across the country, and the witch spoon is credited with starting a collecting craze that lasted about thirty years. A president in the handle and a moment in the bowl is the direct descendant of that first Washington spoon.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe Louisiana Purchase got its own party. From April 30 to December 1, 1904, St. Louis held the Louisiana Purchase Exposition to mark the centennial, and nearly 20 million visitors came. Sterling spoons were among the pricier souvenirs, and some showed Jefferson and Napoleon, the two men who made the deal. The fair is wrapped in legend: the story goes that the ice cream cone and iced tea were invented there. Food historians say both already existed — but the 1904 fair is where millions of Americans first met them, along with cotton candy, hot dogs and Dr Pepper.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003chr\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003e🖼️ Display and Gift Ideas\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cul\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003e🥄 Stand it in a spoon rack with other presidents, or on its own with the map facing out.\u003c\/li\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003e📚 Set it beside a book on Jefferson or Lewis and Clark.\u003c\/li\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003e🍎 A small gift for a history teacher, a Monticello visitor or a Louisiana or Missouri native.\u003c\/li\u003e\n  \u003cli\u003e🏛️ Add it to a presidential collection as the Jefferson entry.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003chr\u003e\n\n\u003ch2\u003e❓ Questions People Ask\u003c\/h2\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWho made this spoon?\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\nThe back is marked WM ROGERS MFG. CO., the Hartford silverplate brand founded in 1865 and part of International Silver from 1898.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhat does the 1803 in the bowl mean?\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\nIt is the year of the Louisiana Purchase, the event shown on the map. It is not the year the spoon was made.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHow many spoons are in the presidential set?\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\nSets ending with Kennedy have 34 spoons; later sets ending with Nixon have 36.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHow much did the Louisiana Purchase cost?\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n$15 million, for about 828,000 square miles, under a treaty signed in Paris on April 30, 1803.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWhat was the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition?\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\nThe St. Louis World's Fair, held April 30 to December 1, 1904, to celebrate the Purchase centennial.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"relatedBlock\"\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003e🔎 More From The Vintage \u0026amp; Antique Gifts Archive\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/vintageantiquesgifts.com\/products\/antique-american-brilliant-cut-glass-two-handled-sugar-bowl\"\u003eAntique American Brilliant Cut Glass Two-Handled Sugar Bowl ✨ Gilded Age 1876-1915\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/vintageantiquesgifts.com\/products\/vintage-a-p-stock-certificate-brings-historical-significance-life-treasures\"\u003eVintage 1950s-1970s A\u0026amp;P Stock Certificate 🛒 Orange, Great Atlantic \u0026amp; Pacific Tea Company Share\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/vintageantiquesgifts.com\/products\/vintage-1970s-edward-s-curtis-hupa-trout-trap-folio-page\"\u003eVintage 1970s Edward S. 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