The “Witch” Spoon of Salem
By George B. James

The Salem “Witch” spoon was the first to be made from a special die, of a design suggestive of some particular place, and it has since become the most celebrated of the souvenir spoons. On the handle is the figure of a witch, the word “Salem”, and three witch pins, of the same size and shape as those preserved in the Court House at Salem. Here also may be seen many of the original documents relating to the witchcraft trials, among them the death warrant of Bridget Bishop. Salem and its surrounding towns were among the earliest settlements in America, and is of more interest historically than any other sections of the country. Salem is visited every year by an increasing number of people to see the old landmarks and its old houses, especially those connected with the witchcraft delusion.

The Roger Williams House, better known as the old “witch house”, this house was built for Roger Williams, minister of the First Church from 1631 to 1635, and in its rooms tradition says were held preliminary examinations of those charged with witchcraft in 1692. This is the oldest house standing in Salem, or in this section. Samuel Shattuck’s house, built before 1660, figures in the witchcraft trials. Gallows Hill was the scene of the nineteen executions. “The place of execution was a high hill”, says Hawthorne, “on the outskirts of Salem, so that many of the sufferers, as they stood beneath the gallows, could discern their own habitations in the town; but the martyrdom of these guiltless persons seemed only to increase the madness”. Salem is so well known the world over, and so many of her sons and daughters are to found in every State, that this spoon has had the largest sale of any of the souvenir spoons, as a report in the ‘Boston Evening Transcript’ suggests: “One of the presents received by Dr Oliver Wendell Holmes on his eighty-first birthday was a gold-lined silver spoon, the handle of which bears a witch on a broomstick, the word ‘Salem’, and the emblematic witch pins crossed. It came from a lady as a token of Dr Holmes’s latest poem, The Broomstick Train”.

This pattern is made only in sterling silver and in a great variety of pieces. These are of very desirable shapes and of the finest workmanship. They are made only by Daniel Low, 231 Essex Street, Salem, Mass. His establishment is on the corner of the two principal streets, in the First Church Building. The First Congregational Society is one of the oldest in America, their first church being erected on that same spot in 1634.


Illustration shows ‘Witch’ Tea, Coffee and Orange spoons, by Daniel Lowe, Silversmith, priced in 1890 at $3.00, $1.75 and $3.25 respectively.

Extract from ‘Souvenir Spoons’ by George B. James, first published in 1891. Reprint copies of this classic work are available for $35 postpaid (softcover) or $41 postpaid (hardcover) from Bill Boyd, 7408 Englewood Lane, Raytown, MO 64133-6913, USA. Checks or money orders only. Each book comes with a free guide to modern prices.