Treasures await by the World's tallest purple spoon

Jo Wagner and a few of her spoons.

If you're into wooden spoons, then head to East Glacier, Montana where you'll find The Spiral Spoon. I bet the store has more hand-made wooden spoons per square foot than anywhere else in Montana. Maybe the USA. Maybe the World.

You’ll find the World’s Largest Purple Spoon out front. You’ll want to snap a selfie in front of this impressive 14-foot tall kitchen implement.

There are a lot of wooden spoons at the Spiral Spoon, all made with various woods with loving care by Jo and Charley Wagner with a few helpers. I have never seen more impressive spoons. Most sell for $10 to $50, but you can pay more. I bet there are 300 to 400 spoons on display in the store’s three small rooms.

Jo even makes left-handed spoons, something you don’t see every day.

She’s all about the feel of the spoons. She holds each one lovingly, rubbing it. “It’s calming,” she says. “My best customers are blind people.” She says they appreciate the texture.

If you visit, be sure to look up at the ceiling where there are spoons to view, but not to buy. Many were used in TV shows or movies. Charley’s favorite is a spoon from the TV show Bonanza.

Many of the store’s popular spoons have a name. There’s Linda, Doris and Jack to name three. They’re named for friends. The idea is when inventory is running low someone can just yell, “Six more Lindas” to the spoon maker on duty.

Jo and Charley live year round in East Glacier. Most tourists (and customers) arrive in the summer. So in the winter, when it’s too cold outside to do anything but shiver, they hole up inside and make spoons.

The shop is open every day. If the door is locked, a sign says to ring the bell, which plays a nice rendition of Home on the Range. Usually the first to arrive will be Buddy, a friendly black and white dog of small stature and uncertain breeding.

JO WAS AN ENGLISH TEACHER before she took up spoon-making. She never even gave a thought about making something — a spoon, for example. But then she made one and the rest is history. “I never thought I had any talent,” she said, which is pretty funny when you see her beautiful creations.

Besides making spoons, she makes wands. After Harry Potter became popular the local kids started “badgering me to make wands,” she said. After resisting for awhile she did.

Today they fly out nearly as fast as she can make them, each with a certificate explaining what makes it special.

Some have a copper core. Some have buffalo hair. One has wolf hair. She calls the wands “magic” — not because of what they do, but how much profit they generate. “You see that car out there?” she asks, pointing out the window to her Ford Explorer. “What I made from the wands in the first two years I could have used to pay cash for that.”

At age 69, Jo is a whirlwind — "doing" the showroom, talking the talk, smiling, laughing, having fun. She’s one heck of a sales person. I listened to her as she rang the register for one customer after another. She looks at each person's name and then tells a story. “I’ve had several Elizabeth Taylors in here,” she says. “Jimmy Hendrix was in last week.” I asked her if the name was spelled the same. It wasn't.

After leaving the Spiral Spoon, be sure to go next door to Brownie’s Hostel and Bakery and get a Huckleberry milkshake.

You'll find the Spiral Spoon on the Web at TheSpiralSpoon.com.