H68.249.10B

Knives. Description: Set of 6 luncheon knives, beaded edge; "C" incised on knife handles. Marked "Geo C. Shreve & Co. S.F. Cal U & Co. From the History Information Station: Object: Sterling silver knives. Made by George Shreve & Co., San Francisco. Sterling silver is 92.5 percent pure, with copper added for hardness. History: George Shreve was a Boston jeweler who migrated to California in 1852 to start his own business. His brother was a partner in Boston's famous jewelry store, Shreve, Crump & Low. Through his brother's connections Geroge was able to import the finest Eastern silver from Boston and from the exclusive firms of Gorham and Tiffany in New York. In 1881, he began producing silver in a factory employing over seventy workmen. Despite severe competition from big Eastern firms which established outlets in California after completion of the transcontinental railroad, in the 1890s Shreve was said to "keep the finest goods in the line, and have the cream of the San Francisco trade." Shreve & Co. is the only one of the early California silver companies to survive today.