Table Settings for the 1970’s

SUMMER INDOORS IN A GARDEN-FRESH SETTING. Field flowers caught in Oneida’s gold-plated bowl coordinate elegantly with the striking blue and white Spode bone china called “Blue Colonel” and crystal goblets by Spode. Yellow cloth, placemats, and napkins of Irish linen. Gold electroplated flatware, Oneida’s “Modern Baroque.”

Have a Housewarming!

If you've just promised to “love, honor, and cherish” (August is beginning to gain on June as one of the most popular months for weddings), or moved into your second home, chances are a housewarming is in the offing. And the focal point will be the table you set.

COLORFUL, CASUAL FLOOR-SITTING DINNER. Skip the dining room and set up on a long, low coffee table covered with a Dutch Java cotton print fabric instead of a regular cloth. Oneida's new Melamine "Gourmetware" comes in red, yellow, blue, or white. Stainless flatware is in Oneida's incised-rose design. Red plastic tumblers by Stotter.

Attack the problem as an artist would. Etiquette determines the arrangement of the place settings, but you choose pattern, shape, and color. China and silver will be your center of attraction, and their motifs should balance and complement each other. Shape will come from the crystal stemware or tinted glass. 

SHIMMERING SILVER AND GREEN BUFFET. A fresh, yet sophisticated table setting capitalizes on beautiful reflections from sterling and a heavy silvered paper, often used as wall covering. Fine bone china, Spode's "Fairfax," has classic border design. Table is completed with coordinated crystal by Spode and Oneida's opulent "Michelangelo" flatware. Tumblers hold roses, act as candleholders.

An imaginative selection of tablecloths, napkins, and placemats from informal to elegant- in colorful hues can work magical changes in the character and mood of your table. Then, finish the picture with a flourish by adding fresh flowers. Illustrated above here are three sparkling settings to start creative ideas popping! - By Rosalyn Abrevaya, 1970

 🍽️Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber of The RSVP Institute of Etiquette, is the Site Editor of the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia