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United States Coast Guard - 1924 - Extremely Rare - Small Steamship Silver Toothpick HolderOffered for your consideration is an extremely rare 1924 super rare 2\" tall by 2\" wide (at the widest point of this holder on the sides) silver plate side logo toothpick holder for actual dining service of the United States Coast Guard service.
If you collect historic steamship, coast guard, Light House Service, or even hotel silver, you might want to consider this rarity for your collection.
In the past 30+ years of collecting, this is the first such toothpick holder that I\'ve seen like this marked as such for the onboard and life saving stations dining service and I\'m positive not many of theses were ever made.
Historically, the Coast Guard began as the Revenue Cutter Service, which was founded on August 4th, 1790, as part of the Department of the Treasury. Later in 1915, the Revenue Cutter Service was merged with the National Lifesaving Service, which by an act of Congress, to became the Coast Guard.
During prohibition, and at the time that this tooth pick holder was made and used in the \"Roaring Twenties\", the Coast Guard was involved heavily of trying to stop the flow of illegal alcohol on the nations coastal waters, great lakes, and even rivers from the Rum Runners, Bootleggers, and mobsters / gangsters of the era.
This rare piece would have most likely been used aboard one of the larger vessels in the officer’s dining rooms, or used at the first Air Station that was established in 1920 at Morehead City, North Carolina. During the 1920’s, there were Coast Guard Stations in Boston Massachusetts, New York City, Evansville Indiana, Louisville Kentucky, El Paso Texas, San Diego California, Miami Florida, New Orleans Louisiana, Memphis Tennessee, Chicago Illinois, Detroit Michigan, Burnt Island, Cape Elizabeth, Cranberry Isles, Cross Island, Crump Island, Damariscove Island, Rye Beach, Cutty Hunk, Nahunt, and and several other stations across the country.
It was made by the International Silver Co., is silver soldered, marked with the 1924 datemark, and has the catalog number of 05002 marked on the bottom. On the side is the USCG\'s logo with thirteen stars. This shield logo is almost identical to the old logo of that era of the United States Shipping Board, but the USSB logo only has 3 stars instead of this one, which has 13 representing the thirteen original Revolutionary Era Colonies.
This is the heavyweight type railroad silver, steamship silver, and hotel silver. It has the usual light usage scratches, some light wear, but overall, is in wonderful condition for being 101 years old! This would make a wonderful addition to your Coast Guard, United States Lighthouse Service, steamship, Great Lakes, historic light house, or vintage hotel silver collection.
This piece is being offered in the original condition in which I was fortunate to have been able to obtain it in. For me, it has a very nice overall patina that looks great. Should you wish to properly clean it, it should look even better. However, I have elected to leave it in the original condition, as many collectors prefer it this way or want to clean the item themselves with their own method.
Buyer to pay the standard shipping fee shown on the listing, which I will determine how and with what service it will be shipped.
No returns on any items.
Items can take up to three (3) days to ship (due to my schedule working here at the animal rescue).
Please ask any questions before committing to purchase.
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