Chris A. McGlothlin

Chris McGlothlin was an educator in East Tennessee for thirty years. Throughout much of his career, like many teachers, he also had a second job. For Chris that was dealing in the collectibles market – a natural choice since he had been a collector from an early age. His interests in coins, postage stamps, medals and World’s Fair memorabilia eventually led him to souvenir spoons which became his main focus thirty-eight years ago. His first book, World’s Fair Spoons, Volume I: The World’s Columbian Exposition, published in 1985, was intended to be the first in a series cataloging the souvenir spoons made for American expositions held between 1893 and 1916. But that undertaking was laid aside in favor of putting together a definitive work detailing the spoons produced by the Gorham Manufacturing Company, one of America’s greatest silver manufacturers. The project has made slow but steady progress since the early 1990s, and now with the assistance of book designer Stacy Wakefield Forte this huge endeavor has finally reached the printed page. Gorham Spoons: Sterling Souvenirs of a Bygone Era is not only a comprehensive reference work but also a handsome coffee-table book that will delight the eye and captivate even the casual reader. Gorham Spoons is a valuable addition to the libraries of collectors and all those who admire silver craftsmanship at its finest.