Gilded Age Etiquette and Dinners

Fake it ‘til you make it, or at least until your chef does! – If one did not have a pretend French chef, a gas oven was provided and left in the family kitchen. The meal went into the house in a caterer’s basket… – Image from HBO’s “The Gilded Age”

For those out West… Chicago, that is… 

The principal meal of all people of all ages has been undoubtedly dinner, and the lover of old time customs will find it both interesting and entertaining to notice the various changes which have taken place in the etiquette of the dinner table.-Chicago Herald

For those in NYC with no French chef, or even faux French chef …

There are perhaps thirty caterers within a mile of Union Square, New York city, who make a business of supplying private dining tables. For the regular customer, a gas oven is provided and left in the family kitchen. The meal goes to the house in a caterer’s basket, and is popped out of the basket into the oven. Therefore there is no danger of cold dinners. – From Women’s World, 1892

 

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