125307: The Sugar Spoon

Effie's Sugar Spoon

The Emilie teaspoon has been in the sugar bowl in Effie Smith’s kitchen for 60 years. 

Effie was given the spoon by her mother and it was part of her “bottom drawer” when she left her home at 6 Lundale to marry John Smith and came to live at 16B Callanish in August 1948. 

The spoon was one of a set of five spoons sent home to Lewis by her uncle, Neil Macdonald who had a shop in Manitoba, Canada. Four of the spoons were handed out to the four sisters at 6 Lundale Peggy, Christina, Joan and Effie and the fifth went to a cousin Christina MacKay of Crulivig.

Effie says “The  tea spoons were quite large therefore ideal for the sugar bowl. They had the shape of a girl at the top of the handle and each of the five spoons was inscribed with a different name. As the years passed the spoon was a memento of my mother and my sisters. My sister, Peggy was married at Garynahine, Christina at Doune Carloway, Joan at Earshader and cousin Christina in Geshader in Uig, but sadly I am the only one left now”.

Eighty five year old, Effie was amazed when she discovered more about the origin of her spoon in her daily paper recently (2008).

The Emilie on her teaspoon was a one of a set of quintets born in Ontario, Canada in 1934. They were born two months premature to poor parents who had five other children. Together they weighed less than 14 lbs. Mothers from surrounding villages brought breast milk for them

They were the first identical quintuplets known to survive infancy, and they were taken from their parents by the Ontario government and made wards of court, supposedly to protect their health and to prevent them from being exploited.. 

But shortly afterwards Annette, Cecile, Yvonne, Marie and Emilie became the central attraction in Quinland, a theme park selling quintuplet merchandise. At Quinland 6,000 people a day visited the observation gallery to watch the girls play. The sisters featured in advertising and films, exploited by the government to raise millions in tourist revenue. 

Effie continues “I could not believe my eyes when I read the article, when I realised after all this time that Emilie was a real person, I was very sorry for the life she had led

But I am very attached to my spoon and. feel very privileged that during my sixty years in Callanish Emilie helped to sweeten the lives of the many friends who have come to drink tea in my kitchen".