Christmas has come and gone. As the holidays wind down, I’ve been reflecting on the various tasks required to prepare for Christmas, and the differences between 1924 and today. Some tasks that were necessary years ago may not be required today. A hundred years ago silverware needed to be polished in preparation for the big meal. Some hostesses used Magic Bright to remove tarnish. I shifted to using stainless steel years ago, and can’t remember the last time I polished silver.
I’m a little confused about exactly what Magic Bright was. It says that it was used to polish silver, but also notes that it cleans “without polish.” I think that Magic Bright was mixed with water and then flatware was dipped into it to remove tarnish rather than the more traditional way of rubbing polish on the flatware.
Merry Christmas
Thank you, Sheryl.
I think it was a dip. Goddards makes a similar dip and I bought it once, but it is terribly stinky and extremely toxic (cancer, birth defects, why do they still sell stuff like this?) so it ended up going to the hazardous materials collection.
That’s good to know. This sounds like a product to avoid.
I keep my silver in that cloth that prevents tarnish. It has been over 10 years since I polished it, and it’s still acceptable to put on the table. It doesn’t gleam, but no one has refused to eat with it.
I’m not sure, but I think that the lining of my silver chest may also be made of a cloth designed to prevent tarnish.
I enjoy looking at the advertisement piece from a hundred years ago. Thank you for sharing:)
It’s wonderful to hear that you enjoyed this post.
No unpleasant rubbing required – hehehe …
The ad sure makes it sound easy.
My mother loved to polish her silverware. She found it meditative. She had silver bright too but didn’t like that it smelled bad… When I got her silverware, I added it to mine and put it in the special bags to slow the tarnishing effects of air!
I never thought of polishing as meditative. That said, when my mother made a list of chores that needed to be completed in preparation for a holiday meal, polishing silver was one of the first chores I’d select, so maybe I found it relaxing.
Polishing the silver was not hard and you saw instant results… I like closure so it was a pretty good chore if you could pick one! My mother would usually do it because she could sit down and watch TV while she polished…
I think you’re right about why polishing silver is a good chore – not hard, instant results, closure – and you can watch TV while doing it. Who could ask for more when doing a chore?
While I don’t have silver cutlery, I have quite a few pieces of silver jewelry. And yes, it is not my favorite project when it needs polishing. I hope you had a nice Christmas and wish you all the best in the new year.
I had a wonderful Christmas with my family. I hope that you also had a nice Christmas. Like you, polishing silver jewelry is not one of my favorite tasks. It’s so hard to get the tarnish off some of the tiny crevices.
I would love to know more about the polish they used, as I do need to polish silverware from time to time.
So would I. I never thought about whether commercial silver polishes were available a hundred years ago until I saw this ad.
I have to think this product was harmless to the silver, despite their claim! It does remind me of of the liquid jewelry cleaners where you dip the piece of jewelry into the liquid for 30 seconds. Responsible silver owners today are very particular about what brands they use and the possible harmful effects of chemicals in others. It would be interesting to see how long the Magic Bright company was in business. Preparing for the holidays is certainly much different than 100 years ago!
My sense is that people were a lot less aware of the possible harmful effects of many chemicals a hundred years ago. It’s a little scary. Thank goodness we know more now.