DescriptionCommemorative sterling silver spoon engraved with vignette depiction titled D.L.W. Station [Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad Terminal], Hoboken, N.J., no date, probably 1907, but could be circa 1907-1910. Tea spoon, 5-1/8" long, manufactured by Alvin Manufacturing Co. (maker's mark on back at neck), Irvington, N.J., date of issue unknown; marked "patent sterling" on back of neck; Art Nouveau-style pattern; pattern name not stated or determined. Unknown if engraving done by this company. Mark is the Alvin's "A" with the eagle to the left and anchor to the right. The company moved to Providence, RI in 1919 and changed its name to Alvin Silver Co. and changed its mark. Other contemporary commemorative spoons for other subjects using Alvin silverware in the same size have been recorded. No comparison with these other spoons has been made to evaluate the lettering and artwork style in seeking consistent elements that would suggest this was a product of the company or a particuliar person. The bowl is engraved with a view from the Hudson River of the ferry part of the building with three slips and part of a fourth shown (of the actual six.) Behind it is the clock tower that was over the railroad waiting room. In the foreground is asmall ocean liner and another ship. Neither of them are scaled to the image of the building. Titled: D.L.W. STATION above the scene and HOBOKEN, N.J. below. The Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad built a new terminal in Hoboken that opened in 1907 and replaced one that was destroyed by fire in 1905. The usual abbreviation for the company was "D. L. & W.", not "D.L.W.", and the terminal was not usually called a 'station' (although for long distance trains it technically was a station as passengers bought tickets to or from New York - Hoboken was stop on the trip - with the beginning or end of such a train passage requiring a ferry trip.) It is unknown whether this item was an official issue by the railroad for a ceremony or promotional purposes (it is probable that if the railroad company issued it, they would have had their name correctly stated) or if it was a souvenir available for the many visitors who arrived or departed on ocean liners and trains. It is certainly an uncommon item and since it was sterling rather than silverplate, it would have been a luxury purchase.