Victorian cakes were a very serious proposition: the device for serving them is called a cake saw, a piece which resembles a knife. On the top of the blade are indentations for both scoring the cake and for actually sawing away at a really tough one. The blade has a point, useful both for probing for nuts and fruits, and for nudging pieces around, moving them from serving stand to place plate. These wonderful devices became obsolete around 1910. Frequently, cake saws exhibit some of the most elaborate fantasies available in Victorian silver. These make ideal wedding gifts for cutting the wedding cake.
In the course of my treasure hunts, I have found a number of fabulous cake saws, but my favorite is neither the most rare nor the most beautiful. It came to me with a note attached that reads, "Found buried under an oak tree in Minnesota."
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