Lorna Silverplate Charlie McCarthy Collectible Spoon [SOLD]

This Very Collectible Spoon was apparently a promotional item distributed by Chase & Sanborn Coffee Company from 1937-1956. A few different silver plate companies in USA produced them. This spoon is stamped “LORNA” Silver Plate.

COMMENT: Great collector item!

BRIEF HISTORY OF CHARLIE MCCARTHY: Cit. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: “Charlie McCarthy” was born or created as a wood dummy.“Edgar John Bergen (February 16, 1903 – September 30, 1978) was an American actor and radio performer, best known as a ventriloquist.

Bergen was born in Decatur, Michigan to a Swedish family. He taught himself ventriloquism from a pamphlet when he was 11. A few years later he commissioned Chicago woodcarver Theodore Mack to sculpt a likeness of a rascally Irish newspaper boy he knew. The head went on a puppet named Charlie McCarthy, who became Bergen's lifelong sidekick.

Bergen and McCarthy are sometimes credited with "saving the world" because, on the night of October 30, 1938 when Orson Welles performed his War of the Worlds radio play that panicked many listeners, most of the American public had instead tuned in to Bergen and McCarthy on another station and never heard Welles' play. Conversely, it has also been theorized that Bergen inadvertently contributed to the hysteria. When the musical portion of Bergen's show, The Chase and Sanborn Hour, aired approximately 12 minutes into the show, many listeners switched stations and found the War of the Worlds presentation already underway, with a realistic sounding reporter detailing terrible events.

Bergen and his alter-ego McCarthy appeared together with top billing in several films, including the Technicolor extravaganza The Goldwyn Follies (1938), opposite The Ritz Brothers. That year they also appeared in You Can't Cheat An Honest Man, with W. C. Fields. At the height of their popularity in 1938, Bergen was presented an Honorary Oscar (in the form of a wooden Oscar statuette) for his creation of Charlie McCarthy.”

PHOTOGRAPHY COMMENT: A photo of manufacturer’s mark is not available at this time. It will be uploaded at a later date.

CONDITION: Fine condition! Normal acceptable patina for silverplate.