RARE STUNNING ELK BIG ANTLERS BPOE CERVUS ALCES STERLING SILVER SOUVENIR SPOON
Item History & Price
| Reference Number: Avaluer:2507774 | Age: Approx. 100 years |
| Type: Souvenir Spoons | Brand: has maker’s hallmark |
| Composition: Sterling Silver |
Great high qualityand stunning open works design sterling silver spoon dating back to early yearsof 1900 features on the top figural very impressive elk with big antlers, within the antlers it has a clock showing 11:00 hour and a flower above, below bannerwith BPOE and writing CERVUS ALCES (cervus alces is closely allied to theAmerican moose) down the handle. BPOE is Benevolent and Protective Order ofElks and also known as the Elks Club. Measures 5 3/4"long (144 mm) and in excelle...nt condition, feelssolid, weights 28.8 grams. Marked STERLING and has maker’s hallmark. Shippingon multiple purchases are gladly combined. Please see other, some rare, collector spoons I'm currently listing. More on the subject: The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE; also often known asthe Elks Lodge or simply The Elks) is an American fraternal order and socialclub founded in 1868. It is one of the leading fraternal orders in the U.S., claiming nearly one million members. The Elks had modest beginnings in 1868 asa social club (then called the "Jolly Corks") established as aprivate club to elude New York City laws governing the opening hours of publictaverns. After the death of a member left his wife and children without income, the club took up additional service roles, rituals and a new name. Desiring toadopt "a readily identifiable creature of stature, indigenous toAmerica, " fifteen members voted 8–7 in favor of the elk above the buffalo.Early members were mostly from theatrical performing troupes in New York City.It has since evolved into a major American fraternal, charitable, and serviceorder with more than a million members, both men and women, throughout theUnited States and the former territories of the Philippines and the PanamaCanal. When founded, membership in the BPOE was denied to blacks. Because ofthis policy, an unaffiliated, primarily black organization modeled on the BPOEwas formed in 1898. This "Improved Benevolent Protective Order of the Elksof the World" (IBPOEW) remains a separate organization to this day.Membership in the BPOE was opened to African Americans in the 1970s, althoughthe Winter Haven, Florida Elks Club was famously segregated as late as 1985, when Boston Red Sox Coach Tommy Harper protested a Red Sox policy of permittingthem into the spring training clubhouse to issue lodge clubroom invitations towhite players only. Women were permitted to join in the mid-1990s, butcurrently atheists are excluded. The opening of membership to women wasmandated by the Oregon Public Accommodations Act, which was found by an appealscourt to apply to the BPOE, and it has been speculated that the religiousrestriction might be litigated on the same basis. A year after the nationalorganization changed its policy to allow women to join, the Vermont orderedpunitive damages of $5, 000 for each of seven women whom a local chapter hadrejected citing other reasons. Current members are required to be U.S. citizensover the age of 21 and believe in God.
