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The Lamson & Goodnow Company was founded in 1844 in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts when Abel F. and Ebenezer Goodnow joined their cousins, brothers Ebenezer and Nathaniel Lampson, to make cutlery. By 1860, Lamson & Goodnow was the largest producer in the United States. This carving fork was part of a wedding present to Charlotte Wardner Lamson when she married Charles Hyde Warren in 1905. She was the grand-daughter of Ebenezer Lamson, one of the original partners. It has an elegant mother-of-pearl handle made from pearl oyster shells.
A carving fork is used to hold meat so that a carver can slice segments from it. The first known carving forks were used in Spain in the 15th century. In England, they became more common in the mid-17th century.