What Is It? - #35

S

SifuPhil

R.I.P. With Us In Spirit Only
Location
Pennsylvania, USA
Some of you might recognize this item immediately, while others will probably be stumped no matter HOW many hints I give. :eek:

It was made in 1902, probably in the UK, is silver-plated and measures a bit over 12" (31cm) wide.

mystery antique 35b.jpgmystery antique 35a.jpg


WHAT IS IT?
 

DING! DING! DING!

We have a winna'!!!

And after only 8 replies!

Happyflowerlady has correctly identified this as a "shot glass" holder for Communion drinks. Good job, Happy!



I wonder if Jell-O shots would fit as well? :devilish:

Congrats to Happyflowerlady and thank you everyone for playing!
 
Wow...Congrats, Happyflowerlady!! I'd never have thought of anything like that, you're good!!!
 
Diwundrin said:
Is it something Churchy? Like a votive candle holder or something?
Click to expand...

Thank you for the pats on the back, everyone .
Actually, Di deserves at least half of the credit ( thank you, Di !) since she is the one who started me thinking along the right track when she said "something churchy", and then I was thinking, of course ! A communion tray would be silver plated , so that little clue fit right into place.

Great fun, as always, Sifu !
 
Congrats Happyflowerlady, nice job! ;) Funny, I received communion a lot as a kid, and I was never served wine or grape juice. :confused:
 
Those little cups of wine or grape juice are more common in the noncomformist protestant denominations such as Presbyterians and Methodists. Catholics and Anglicans use the 'one cup' which resembles a chalice.

I remember the final scene in the Sally Field movie 'Places in the Heart' where the community was in church and being served in their pews with the communion wine in little glasses carried in holders like the ones shown in the OP. We use them in our church too and they are made of polished timber.
 
Good on you Flower lady I was going to say that as used to fill those cups up .. early history of the individual ones ..Good one Phil..
Up until the 1890s, Protestant churches throughout the world used common communion chalices. Some used just one, while others were known to use several in order to administer the fruit of the vine in a time-saving manner. However, churches using multiple chalices still had tens or perhaps hundreds of people sipping from the same cup during a communion service. In the late-nineteenth century, when outbreaks of diphtheria and tuberculosis were common, American sanitarians agitated to reform this religious practice—though no disease contraction had been linked to the use of a common communion chalice.
Reformers proposed several alternatives such as intinction, individual fistulas or siphons, scalloped-rim chalices, and disinfectant cloths. However, among all proposals, individual cups emerged as the most popular method. Enough pastors and laymen became convinced of the sanitary need to use individual cups that the idea took hold, then rapidly spread into the twentieth century. This reform changed what was believed to be an almost 1,900-year-old method.

 
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