For those who love love love etiquette
“Brunch is one of the most versatile ways to entertain on today’s scene. All it takes is a creative hostess, an imaginative menu, an inventive drink and a happy spirit.” Girl Talk Magazine, April 1970 According to the Smithsonian Magazine, brunch was first mentioned in print in an 1895 Hunter’s Weekly article entitled, “Brunch: A Plea,” which was a…
Read More
There are so many great period television shows, but not all of them also happen to have great tableware. Just in case you want to watch a good show and see some delectable table settings, here are my top ten for the 20’s to the 50’s. 10. Lord Peter Whimsey, 1970 Please excuse the terrible quality…
Read More
“The house guest who remains for some time may have her breakfast served on a tray so that she may not find it necessary to appear until the hostess has accomplished some necessary work. Also, an invalid usually has her breakfast served in this manner. The tray, which must be large enough to contain the…
Read More
By 1922, Lilian Eichler writes that, “Menu-cards are no longer used at the formal dinner, unless it is in celebration of some auspicious occasion and honored guests are present. In this case, the hostess has the menus printed or engraved in a delicate script and has one placed beside the plate of each guest. A favorite fashion…
Read More
“He attended to that and came down with an invitation for me to go up—yes, certainly; and, while we walked along over to the bank to get money, and collect my cigars and tobacco, and to the cigar shop to trade back the lottery tickets and get my umbrella, and to Mr. Natural’s to pay…
Read More
“When ladies have according to the French custom, set apart one morning or one evening in the week for receiving callers, it is a breach of etiquette to call at any other time, unless a short visit in the city or business that will not admit of delay are the excuses. An hour in the…
Read More
“The finger-bowls are usually brought in on the dessert plates which also hold the dessert spoons and forks. Each person sets his finger-bowl and the doily underneath it on the table in front of or at the side of his dessert plate, to be used later. The dessert spoon and fork are generally placed on the table…
Read More
“This is rather a new entertainment. Its novelty lies in the fact that the beverage served is chocolate, and that chocolate enters into all the refreshments served, such as chocolate wafers, etc. A chocolate lemonade will be a nice addition in hot weather, chocolate bon bon being passed in dainty silver bon-bon baskets.” Social Etiquette…
Read More
Here we have one of those weird evolutions of terms where one phrase begins to mean nearly the opposite thing. High Tea is one of the great examples of this. Company dinner is another. For an American in the early and mid 19th century, a company dinner would have been one of the most extravagant…
Read More
The chopstick has been used since 1200 B.C. starting in China and moving steadily throughout Asia over the next seven hundred years, though they were used mainly for cooking not for eating for hundreds of years. Bronze versions of chopsticks were even found at Yinxu archeological digs that date back to near 400 B.C. Over time,…
Read More