Gilded Age Etiquette of Stemware Placement

Diagram illustrating how to arrange glasses in a formal table setting from Fanny Gillette, The White House Cook Book: A Selection of Choice Recipes Original and Selected (Chicago: R. S. Peale and Co., 1887), 467, Special Collections, Michigan State University Libraries. — Etiquipedia fails to see how this setting would not simply invite stemware numbered I, II and III to fall to the floor, as the plate is properly placed an inch from the table’s edge. It’s the most confusing diagram we have ever seen for stemware.

Besides the cost of the food itself, another major obstacle to hosting a formal dinner in the Gilded Age was the number of use-specific dishes and utensils thought to be necessary. Wealthy households in this era had mammoth holdings of dishes, cutlery, and glassware. 

Fanny Gillette’s Diagram Illustrating How to Arrange Glasses on the Table at Each Setting

A –  PLATE
I  –   Glass for Sauterne
II –   Glass for Sherry
III–  Glass for Rhine Wine
IV –  Glass for Water
V –   Glass for Champagne
VI –  Glass for Burgundy

Note: Etiquipedia fails to see how this setting would not simply invite stemware numbered I, II and III to fall to the floor, as the plate is properly placed an inch from the table’s edge. It’s the most confusing diagram we have ever seen for stemware. We do often marvel at how graphic artists of that period often get their subjects incorrect when it came to the drawings for patents. It’s possible the artist misunderstood the written directions and the artwork was never checked. We’ll probably never know, however, we do not recommend this as proper placement.

 

— From “Food in the American Gilded Age,” Edited by Helen Zoe Veit

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