When I was young, we did not have a matching set of flatware. Our kitchen drawer held an assortment of knives, forks, and spoons that had accumulated over the years. They worked just fine, but sometime in the late 1970s, Mom decided we could do better.
And, being Mom, she figured out a way to do it for almost nothing.
Mom found an advertisement in Better Homes and Gardens for a sample place setting of Oneida flatware. My memory is that you could mail in a coupon from the magazine and receive a sample set in whatever pattern you selected. There may have been a small charge for postage or handling, but essentially the sample was free.
Each sample included four pieces: a salad fork, a dinner fork, a teaspoon, and a knife.
Mom selected a pattern called Chandelier. When her sample arrived, she loved it. Compared with the mismatched collection we had been using, the new Oneida flatware was definitely an upgrade.
So Mom decided she wanted more.
There was, of course, a problem. The offer was for a sample place setting, not an entire set of flatware.
Mom had a solution for that.
She began sending in more coupons under different names. She was Carolyn Jasperson for one request, Carolyn Livingston for another, and Mrs. Bryce Jasperson for another. Then she branched out to the grandmothers: Lavon Jasperson and Lavina Livingston. Next came Mrs. Clint Jasperson and Mrs. Leon Livingston. I am pretty sure she also used my sister Kris and my sister-in-law Kathy as recipients. Eventually, she started using different versions of her sisters' and nieces' names as well.
I think Mom was concerned that someone at Oneida might notice if Carolyn Jasperson at the same address kept requesting free samples, so she spread the requests around. She also spaced out the mailings so Oneida would not receive all of them at once.
Of course, that created another logistical problem. Some of the sample sets were being mailed to relatives.
I remember my grandmas, aunts, sisters, and cousins bringing their packages of Oneida flatware to Mom the next time we saw them. Apparently, they were all willing participants in Mom's plan.
It took a while. My memory is that she eventually accumulated 16 place settings, enough for our entire family plus guests. With Mom, Dad, and seven kids, we needed quite a few.
As the Oneida arrived, the old assortment of mismatched knives, forks, and spoons disappeared from our table. The Chandelier flatware became our everyday flatware. We used it for every meal for the rest of my childhood. For really large family gatherings, we might use plastic utensils and paper plates, but otherwise, we ate with Mom's Oneida.
Over the years, Mom added to the collection. Those pieces were not free. She bought matching serving spoons, grapefruit spoons, a sugar spoon, a pie server, and other pieces until she had a fairly complete collection.
While researching this story, I discovered that Mom must have found the Chandelier pattern fairly soon after Oneida introduced it. The pattern was launched in 1976 and was produced until 1985. I also learned that Oneida did quite a bit of promotional marketing during that era, including coupons and offers designed to get its flatware into people's homes.
That strategy certainly worked on Mom.
One free sample was all it took.
Oneida probably hoped that after trying the sample, Mom would go to the store and buy the rest of the set.
Mom had a different idea.
Most of Mom's Chandelier flatware is no longer at Dad's house. But when I was there recently, I found two of the matching serving spoons still in the kitchen. After nearly fifty years, I immediately recognized the pattern.
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| Two of Mom's Oneida Chandelier serving spoons are still at Dad's house. |
They are just two old serving spoons now. But when I look at them, I remember the flatware we used at our kitchen table every day, the packages my aunts brought to Mom, and the elaborate scheme she devised to turn a magazine promotion into a matching set of Oneida for our family.
That was Mom.
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