A Davenport woman is stirring the pot, as she’ll attempt to break the world record for the largest souvenir spoon collection and the public can watch the count.
Cammie Pohl will bring her spoon collection to a counting event at Bally’s Quad Cities Casino & Hotel, 777 Bally Blvd., Rock Island, on Thursday, April 27, 2023. The public can attend the event from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Pohl currently estimates her collection to be more than 8,500 spoons, according to a Visit Quad Cities release Tuesday.
According to the Guinness World Records website, Des Warren of Mayfield, Australia owns a collection of over 30,000 teaspoons as recognized by the UK Spoon Collectors Club.
Pohl’s connection to souvenir spoons started when she visited her great-grandmother Amelia Watts, before leaving for the U.S. Army in 1987. Her great-grandmother gave her three boxes and told Cammie not to open them until she got married or bought her first home. The boxes sat in storage with other belongings for years while Pohl served in the U.S. Army.
When Cammie and her husband bought their first home, she opened the boxes and was immediately taken by the intricacy and beauty of the silver spoon collection she found inside, the Visit QC release said. This started a new passion for Pohl — spoon collecting.
From antique shops and antique malls to flea markets, she has found silver spoons from coast to coast — Washington to Maine, California and Florida, Alaska and Hawaii. Pohl has expanded her travels to find unique spoons and has traveled to over 29 countries and visited many gift shops to buy souvenir spoons.
She is a member of two national spoon clubs and has attended numerous spoon conventions. Last year, Pohl won first place silver for her spoon display at the Northeastern Spoon Collectors Guild Convention in Memphis, Tenn.
She has also won many blue ribbons at the Mississippi Valley Fair and the Iowa State Fair for her spoon displays. The Spoon Club of Southern California will host their convention in the Quad Cities this September.
Last August, Pohl tied with Dorothy Knox of Cedarfield for third place in the Husband Calling Contest at the 2022 Iowa State Fair. The contest was part of the “Rural Americana Olde Tyme Competitions” in the Farm Bureau Pioneer Hall.
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