Table Manners of Olden Eras

A 1920’s depiction of a 15th C. spatulate Pea Knife,  alongside an ancient fork and later style knife with a rounded blade. – The knife and fork combination utensil on left, and the spatulate knife, at right, some say are lacking the beauty of the modern knife of sterling with which they are compared.

Table Manners of Yesterday Bring Chuckles to Club Women

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Mrs. Norman Hutt Imparts Ancient “Tips on Etiquette” for Comparison

Fifteenth century guests at the dinner table of a “person of quality” kept themselves uncovered until the “person of quality” put on his hat, according to one of the ancient rules of etiquette translated from Old English by Mrs. Norman Hutt yesterday for the Sherman Oaks Woman's Club.

Mrs. Hutt, in turning back the pages of history to early eras related many interesting and amusing facts on table manners and menus for her listeners. 

She described the cave man’s table, the old Roman table and the 15th century table, observing the changes of modes and some of the fundamentals which are incorporated in present-day ways of living.

An old French book on etiquette to which Mrs. Hutt referred, admonished dinner guests “not to dip fingers in sauce or lick when having don, nor to gnaw bones and sprawl upon the floor.” 

Another suggestion was to “place hat or napkin in front of face” if a guest was forced to cough while at the table. And always to “put the knife out of harm's way” when finished using it.

A quaint verse which the audience enjoyed for its unique usage and spelling was this one:

“Pyke not thy teeth at the tabylle syttynge 

Nor useth thy mete over much spytynge,

Ley not thy elbows nor thy fyst 

Upon the tabylle whist thou etist: 

*Bulk not as a bean were yn thy throte.”

 

*Bulk is the old word for hiccup and the late word, burp.

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