The Victorian era was big on table manners, even the poorer civilians put their best foot forward. Touching food with your bare hand was absolutely frowned upon, so they invented special cutlery for just about everything. Need some tea leaves. There’s a utensil just for that. Want to nibble on some bone marrow. Well, you can scoop it out of the bone. There was something for just about everything. So why don’t you keep on reading to learn about some of the Victorian Era’s genius tableware inventions.

1. Caddy Spoons

We all know how much the British love their tea. During the Victorian era, tea leaves were kept in a caddy, a special box that was designed to keep the leaves fresh. Using your bare hands to get them out would result in some serious side-eyeing. Instead caddies usually featured a caddy spoon which came in the shapes of shells, shovels or even ladles. Overtime, caddy spoons became more elaborate and decorative—they were sometimes infused with local scents, crests or place names tied to the area or owners’ preferences.

2. Crumb Scoop and Tray

Sometimes, eating can get messy. And given the Victorians’ obsession with cleanliness, it’s a no-brainer that they invented something that aided in getting rid of those leftover crumbs. This handy device was invented during the 1850 and servants were often the ones who handled this duty. Crumb scoops used to be really flashy too—they were often made of bone, ivory, mother-of-peal, wood or ibvorine.

3. Spoon Warmer

Victorian homes were pretty cold as the only source of heat was the fireplaces in the different parts of the house. The kitchen, however, wasn’t one of those rooms so when the food was brought to the table, the cutlery would be cool by the time it got there. This in turn would cause food to cool faster as well while eating. The solution to this was the spoon warmer which worked by using hot water to keep the spoon all nice and warm. Spoon warmers basically fell out of fashion as homes became better heated and insulated

4. Sugar Nips

Back then, sugar used to be very hard and they were sold in cone shapes known as “sugar loaves.” So when it was time to sweeten the tea, a sugar nip was often used to break up the hard cones into smaller pieces. And in wealthy households, this was often done by the mistress due to the high cost of sugar. The sugar nips were basically tongs with a flat surface at the end designed to lift pieces of sugar. They were also pretty tough and sturdy too, given the fact that they were made out of steel.

5. Marrow Scoops

Remember that Victorians weren’t fans of using your bare hands at the dinner table. Well, you’d imagine it would be pretty tricky trying to get some of that delicious bone marrow without displaying some caveman tendencies. That’s where the marrow scoops come in—it has a long handle like a spoon with a really narrow end, perfect for getting into that bone. All you have to do is scoop out as much bone marrow as you can then dig in. It’s really that simple and mess free, of course.