Sugar tongs
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about a utensil. For medical splint, see Sugar tong.
"Sugar nippers" redirects here. For kitchenware tool, see Sugar nips.
The sugar tongs are small serving utensils[1] used at the table to transfer sugar pieces from the sugar bowl to the tea cups.[2] The tongs appeared at the end of the 17th century,[3] and were very popular by 1800, with half of the British households owning them.[2] The decline of the formal tea party led to the disappearance of the sugar tongs, in the 21st century they are considered an oddity at the table in their original role, but had acquired a new meaning: the tongs now represent Englishness (somewhere along with Miss Marple).[4] Also, these tongs still can be used to serve small candy, string beans, slices of cucumber, celery sticks.[1]