Collectible for everyone...........
To appreciate antique or vintage ice cream scoops seems very intuitive to me. These devices remind us of the pleasure of eating ice cream and delight us with the ingenuity of the inventors. The older scoops represent a link to history and the ice cream lovers who came before us.
Historical eras can be defined by the ice cream scoop designs of the time. William Clewell of Reading PA patented the first patented scoop in 1878. It was a relatively crude device, but manufacturing capabilities were improving rapidly; after all this was the time of Edison, Tesla, the Wright brothers, and Henry Ford. The first scoops were merely a rolled metal cone with a simple wiper mechanism, handle, and a finial atop to facilitate the two-handed motion. The first one-handed scoop that I can find was patented in 1890 and was the first of so many as the entrepreneurs of the time were rapidly growing in numbers. The end of WWI marked the start of the period of economic growth that spawned more intricate and decorative scoop designs. The public was demanding something new and different and with the growth in expendable income, the scoop makers of the time delivered. This boom period gave way to the great depression of the late 20s and 30s. Then came WW2 and most manufacturing was focused on the war effort. I cannot find information on the production numbers for ice cream scoops during these periods. It is reasonable that the numbers followed the obvious economic trends of the period. I can, however, see that the number of new scoop patents did follow these tenets. If you look at the progression of ice cream scoop designs from the 1880s to the 1950s, you can see this correlation. There is no better resource for reviewing the ice cream scoop design timeline than Wayne Smith’s guidebook “Ice Cream Dippers.”
Your collection might be just a single scoop that points to a fond memory of a time gone by. You might proudly display it in a kitchen area or even just keep it in that drawer that collects other seldom-used items. Either way, there can be an attachment that provides a level of joy from just the sight of the thing, pleasure by association.
For others, a collection of scoops can be a fun and decorative link to the past. Even a small collection of scoops can be a centerpiece for conversation, and my experience suggests universal appreciation will be shown even by non-believers.
And some of us enjoy collecting a wide range of scoops. All shapes and all sizes are fair game for our group.