A silver cup, ornate in its design, with a stein-like handle and garlands of roses gathering along the base, was stamped with the year, 1857, and gifted to Sarah Simon Jacobi, nee Sarah Simon. This beautiful piece of drinkware was not a wedding gift, or even an item of dinnerware one might find on the Simon’s table for supper, but a gift to celebrate the birth of newborn Sarah, who at the time had arguably little use for sterling. Sarah’s shiny silver cup is part of the Jacobi-Schlossberg Family collection and is one among countless examples that AJHS keeps of the ways that human beings throughout time have celebrated their newborns. But this precious object, in more ways than one, begs the question: why for centuries have we gifted babies with articles of sterling silver?
Silver, for many reasons that shift throughout time, has always carried ceremonial weight. We could not, for example, chalk this practice up to a single proverbial notion, though many items of Judaica are produced from silver for its “ethical innocence and sanctity”.1 Historically speaking, silver was among the first precious metals to facilitate the flourishing of early civilizations like Ancient Greece and Anatolia.2 With the eventual expansion of global trade in the 15th Century and greater supply out of the Americas, it became even more readily available to the affluent classes, quickly seeping its way into households in the form of items as common as candlesticks. Because of its easily recognizable splendor, silver has, since its beginning, been used to beautify the table, the home, the wearer, etc. And it is for these, and a host of other reasons, that silver objects have been given as gifts in the celebratory event of a baby’s birth. AJHS preserves and keeps a few baby books in our collections; large scrapbooks or, in the case of baby Frances Levy Lewis, a pocket-sized journal, that reveal both the intimate details of the child’s early life and what we can assume is a mother or caregiver’s devotion and love for the little one. Traditionally, the journal-keeper would note the baby’s first gifts as a milestone and in our collection, there are many examples of gifts as common as socks to those more exceptional, like Baby Sarah’s sterling cup.
It is among the personal papers of the Jacobi-Schlossberg Family collection that we find Alice Jacobi Schlossberg’s (1912-1987) baby book. Her mother, Freda Moritz Jacobi, was diligent in her recording of Alice’s early life and took special note of the gifts baby Alice received upon her arrival in 1912. A silver cup, silver napkin ring, and silver rattle are among the trove of items gifted in celebration.
Another example can be found in the Lewis and Levy Family Papers, where on the last page of baby Frances’ first book, begun in 1893, there is a list of gifts including a silver hairbrush and a silver and ivory rattle.
The practice of showering a mother and her newborn in gifts is meant to bless the life of both parties with wishes for longtime happiness, health and prosperity. In the Victorian era, at the intersection of both the boom of industry and a cultural shift towards the celebration of childhood, silver baby gifts, in particular, began to flourish.3 Not only did the supply of silver increase at this time, but the median American income rose as well.4 Gone were the days when only the 1% could afford a superfluous silver comb! By the late nineteenth century, much of the working class could afford to purchase silver objects for the home and it was certainly a popular way to celebrate mother and baby. Because at this time silver was the principal currency, a cup of sterling silver also represented a financial endowment for the growing family and was a symbol of economic continuity.5 When Alice Jacobi Schlossberg was born in 1912, the value of silver had declined significantly, but its symbolic power remained.
AJHS celebrates Mother’s Day with this intimate look at the ways in which motherhood has been celebrated and showered throughout time immemorial. We owe so much to the mothers and caregivers whose lives are documented in our collections; their histories show us how to be caring and steadfast actors in a world that has not always centered the important work that matriarchs perform. In the case of these baby books, diligent notes detailing first gifts and first steps, the keeping of school photos and preservation of letters from summer camp are all a testament of their love and devotion.
We hope you enjoyed this short history on the tradition of welcoming new life with gifts of silver and raise your cup, sterling or no, to mothers and caregivers everywhere.
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- itai lombrozo. 2023. “Silver Judaica – Everything You Need to Know – ICOJ.” Israel Center of Judaica. March 5, 2023. https://israelicenterofjudaica.com/silver-judaica/?srsltid=AfmBOopw5wb6VoHiFY8xurg6fJWhlmJcEe5_O7Hq4nvKQsV_yi7pCIpY. ↩︎
- “SILVER SUPPLY & DEMAND |.” 2024. Silverinstitute.org. 2024. https://silverinstitute.org/silver-supply-demand/. ↩︎
- BECHTEL, SERENA TOTMAN. “Changing Perceptions of Children c. 1850-c. 1925 as Reflected in American Silver.” Studies in the Decorative Arts 6, no. 2 (1999): 64–94. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40662680. ↩︎
- BECHTEL. “Changing Perceptions of Children c. 1850-c. 1925 as Reflected in American Silver.” ↩︎
- BECHTEL. “Changing Perceptions of Children c. 1850-c. 1925 as Reflected in American Silver.” ↩︎
