| Eating utensils, in the 1700s consisted of knifes, spoons and forks. Although spoons were not as widely used as the other two for the actual function of eating, they were used for cooking. Many people, at that time, continued the custom of using a wide knife to handle food in place of a spoon. While spoons tended to be cast in metal in a single piece or as two pieces (bowl and handle) soldered together, forks and knives tended to be composed of metal with bone handles. Forks most commonly had just two tines. British examples might have three. Knives very often had wide blades with the tang nesting in a bone handle. Dishes were made either of wood or pewter. Families might possess a number of each type, neither one having greater advantages over the other. The American Revolutionary War soldier tended to carry whatever kind of plate he could obtain. |
| Shown below is a pewter plate. Pewter and wood were the most common materials for plates and other dinnerware from which soldiers ate. Additional information and pictures are included in the gallery titled Kitchen Implements. |
