We have covered a lot of products by Oneida on this site. And we’ve always known there is a interesting backstory to one of the oldest and most famous flatware companies.

At the Guardian there is a great book review of Oneida: From Free Love Utopia to the Well-Set Table by Ellen Wayland-Smith. Here’s a snippet:

“Ellen Wayland-Smith is a descendant of members of the Oneida community, and in her book she details the travails of her ancestors. In the 1840s, Noyes and his followers set up the Oneida Reserve, buying land that had been confiscated from Native Americans, determined to be able to practise their communistic Christianity (in which claiming a single person as one’s own was seen as antithetical to the group’s wellbeing). By the 1940s, Oneida had become among the most prestigious brands of silverware and cutlery, and its owners were mortified that the public might find out about the company’s free love beginnings.”

Check out the book review at the Guardian or even better you can buy the book at the link below.

Oneida: From Free Love Utopia to the Well-Set Table

“The Rich Forks” is an interesting art project by Australian artist Van Thanh Rudd. For fifteen years he has been stealing cutlery from the rich and famous.  To quote from his website:

“Endless high quality food and drink, silver service and luxury hotel rooms adorn the daily routines of the idle rich these days more than ever. It’s no surprise that this occurs when only 62 people own as much wealth as the poorest 3.6 billion people on this planet. Luxury items including 5/6 star hotel food and wine is always at the finger tips of the extremely wealthy. And they don’t lift a finger when it comes to washing the silverware, setting the tables or cooking the exorbitantly priced food.”

So he successfully stole flatware from rich people to make a pretty serious point. He had access I think because he is the nephew of the former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd. And he stole from a interesting list of people like Prince Harry, Hillary Clinton, Rupert Murdoch and others.

Visit VTR’s website to see more

I laughed so hard I was stomping my feet in the theater watching the movie “Deadpool”. It’s a very crude, immature and over the top super hero movie. And someone has decided that a Deadpool Knife Block makes perfect sense. It does to me. Cunning cutlery indeed.

Britt Michelsen who is a Chemical Engineer in Hamburg, Germany used modelling software and a 3D printer to create this amazing knife block. Now personally I would have added a serving spoon to gag him with and a couple of forks into the eyes to round out the flatware torture, but that’s just me.

Sadly, not available for sale, probably not licensed by Marvel. But if you have a good 3D printer you can make one yourself.

Check out the design @ Instructables