Cutlery mustard spoon and lettuce fork. Steel was always used for more utilitarian knives, and pewter was used for some cheaper items, especially spoons. From the nineteenth century, electroplated nickel silver (EPNS) was used as a cheaper substitute for sterling silver. In 1913, the British metallurgist Harry Brearley discovered stainless steel by chance and this metal has come to be the predominant one used in cutlery. An alternative is melchior, corrosion-resistant nickel and copper alloy, which can also sometimes contain manganese and nickel-iron. Plastic cutlery is made for disposable use, and is frequently used outdoors for camping, excursions, and barbecues for
Clauss Cutlery Company producing household scissors and other simple products because wages were much lower in Europe. As a result, the company shifted focus to industrial scissors. Henkel–Clauss continued to struggle as much of its sales revenue came from declining industries or businesses where automation was reducing the need for scissors. In 1954 the corporate name was changed to Clauss Cutlery Company to eliminate the confusion with the German cutlery firm J.A. Henckels. In 1967 Clauss was taken over by Alco Standard Corporation. Alco Standard, which later divested its manufacturing companies to create Alco Industries, integrated Clauss into its existing structure to manufacture