Napkin Folding Etiquette

“If the monogram was placed in the corner, she turned in three corners of the square to give a shield shape. Sometimes she folded in two corners, which gave a six sided figure.”

Fashions in Folding

Followed by “Nancy Page”

When Nancy came to arrange her new linen closets, she decided that she might as well settle upon some definite rules for folding her freshly laundered linen. Then having settled that it would be easy to keep the shelves looking neat and tidy. She had small napkins of tea size, napkins used for breakfast and luncheon and the larger dinner napkins. 

In addition, there were the tiny fruit or cocktail napkins, but these small bits of linen needed no folding. She instructed her laundress to fold the tea napkins in triangular folds. The breakfast napkins were folded into squares and then diagonally across. The dinner napkins were folded into thirds, length-wise and then thirds, cross-wise. Sometimes she placed them folded this fashion on the dinner plates. Sometimes she gave them a narrow long appearance by turning in the two sides of the large square. 

If the monogram was placed in the corner, she turned in three corners of the square to give a shield shape. Sometimes she folded in two corners, which gave a six sided figure. All of these last folds were done loosely at time of setting the table. She instructed the laundress to fold towels so that they could be hung on racks with no refolding, and sheets were to be folded into thirds. length-wise and then in as many cross folds as necessary. This always brought the monogram on sheets in center top. – “Nancy Page” is by Florence La Ganke, 1929 

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