Place Settings and Good Taste

The salad knife, cutting side toward the plate, is put next to the plate on the right. A silver bladed knife is especially correct for salad– but if you prefer knifeless salad eating, choose your salad accordingly and omit the knife.

Choice of Silver is Declaration of Good Taste

The silver on your table is a declaration of your taste. Whether it be sterling or plate, there is, in an excellent pattern and in the perfect form and proportion of the utensils, an unmistakeable aristocracy that gives a proud hearted splendor and distinction to your table. In your linens, you achieve the desired background for your tables and in your glass and china you have unlimited means for the expression of beautiful form. Then, in your silver utensils, you add the important accessories which are beautiful and decorative and which, because of their constant usefulness, are essential in furthering the “art of gracious living” and of table etiquette. 

Will the tops of the handles fit perfectly into the center of the palm of the hand? Determine if the handles are comfortable to hold and examine all of the pieces, when choosing your flatware.

Study All Pieces 

When you have determined upon the pattern of your silver, you must supplement its beauty by its practicality. For instance, when you choose a pattern of silver, you should examine all the pieces to be sure you are going to like the shapes of all the rest of the pieces. Determine if the handles are comfortable to hold and that the tops of the handles of the knives and forks fit perfectly into the center of the palm of the hand. Then ascertain, if possible, if the pattern is apt to be “discontinued.” 

The amount of flat silver to be placed beside each plate depends upon the menu to be served. The question of which fork or spoon to choose is no longer a problem if the table is properly set, since the outside implement is always the one you are meant to use. In setting the table, therefore, you put the fork or spoon that is to be used last next to the plate, and mentally continue through the courses backward, until the implements for the first course are on the outside or farthest from the plate. 

Placing of Forks and Knives Correctly

The dinner fork (or meat fork) is put next to the plate, prongs up, and about two and one-half inches from the edge of the table. The salad fork is placed on the left of the meat or dinner fork. The salad knife, cutting side toward the plate, is put next to the dinner knife (or meat knife) which is closest to the plate on the right. A silver bladed knife is especially correct for salad - but if you prefer knifeless salad eating, choose your salad accordingly and omit the knife. 

For “Continental Dining” the order of the courses is reversed and the dinner fork is placed to the left of the salad fork ,while the dinner knife goes to the right of the salad knife.

  

Spoons at Right 

The spoons are placed on the right of the knife in the order of the courses in which they are to be used.  The soup spoon, then, would be the spoon farthest from the knife. Some authorities affirm that it is correct to place only five pieces of sliver on the table for each cover, and that if more are required they may be brought in with the course for which they are needed. 

Glasses are put above or at the upper right of the knives. At luncheon or supper, if you serve iced tea or coffee in a tall glass, the long spoon is placed on the table beside it. – La Habra Star, 1935

Etiquette Enthusiast,Maura J Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia