Christeah Dupont, Point Ellice House Museum & Gardens
Our modern kitchens are filled with various tools for specific tasks – garlic peelers, avocado slicers, and grapefruit spoons, to name a few. This triple pronged tool from the Point Ellice House collection (PEH 975.1.4966) also has a very specific purpose: to fetch pickles from the bottom of the jar. The pickle fork even has a second handle with a ball on the end to help push your tasty snack off the end so you do not touch the food with your fingers.
The Victoria and Albert Museum reminds us that specialized dining utensils were essential during the Victorian era; touching food, with an exception for types of bread, cheese and fresh fruit, was a breach of etiquette. The Habits of Good Society, published in about 1859, recommended that readers “Never touch anything edible with your fingers.”
Do you have a pickle fork? How do you fish your pickles out of the jar?
