What is silverware?
What is silverware? Silver has properties that help fight bacteria. Before disinfectants, utensils like spoons, cups, candlesticks, plates, and even table-weights were coated in silver to keep them sanitary. With the advent of modern soaps and dishwashers, real silver was no longer necessary. We now use stainless-steel instead, but the name stuck – any household utensil with that famous shine is technically silverware. In modern speech, however, ‘silverware’ became a synonym for flatware. Oneida became a synonym for top-of-the-line.