Etiquette: Table Crumbing to Dessert

After the salad course, the table is crumbed with a folded napkin on to a china plate, and the dessert service is placed before the guest — the glass bowl and plate on the larger plate with a small, lace or embroidered doily between. – Above, crumbing the table using a table crumbed brush and pan set. These can be used for a more formal look and numerous antique versions can be found for purchase online.

Crumbing the Table & Serving Dessert

Dessert, as interpreted by the American hostess, is anything sweet that comes at the end of the meal -puddings, pies, ice-cream. Pie is never served at a formal dinner. Ice-cream, in one form or another, is almost the universal dessert. The dessert spoon is twice the size of a teaspoon, and with the fork which matches it in design, is laid either beside the dessert or upon it.

The present-day correct dessert service consists of a glass or china plate, deeper and about the size of a tea plate, a smaller glass plate and a finger bowl to match.

After the salad course, the table is crumbed with a folded napkin on to a china plate, and the dessert service is placed before the guest — the glass bowl and plate on the larger plate with a small, lace or embroidered doily between. The guest removes the finger bowl and doily to the cloth, and takes his ice-cream on the glass plate. This is then removed and the fruit is eaten from the larger plate. The fingers are dipped in the finger bowl and wiped on the napkin. Very lovely dessert sets, the three pieces matching, may be had in delicately colored glass.

Dessert may, however, be served in various ways, according to the pleasure of the hostess. It may be served “from the side,” where the plate would be set before the guest with the dessert silver on it. Or it may be served by the hostess at the table which would be the English form, the waitress taking the plates from the hostess and placing them before the guest - always from the left. In this case the silver would be laid on the cloth.

A fruit knife must be laid if fruit is to be served. At many really formal dinners the fruit course is omitted, since few care for both the sweet dessert and fruit. – From “The Gracious Hostess” by Della Thompson Lutes, 1923

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

Table Crumbs and Tabletop Antiques

Throughout the latter part of the 19th C., through the Gilded Age and the very early part of the 20th C., sterling flatware designers, silver companies and even a few knowledgeable jewelers, changed names of sterling utensils, the utensil designs occasionally, and renamed designs of utensils to suit regional tastes and even the personal food preferences of customers. Many utensils we know today, like steak knives or grapefruit spoons, started out with different names and they had different purposes, which Etiquipedia has highlighted before in posts – “Grapefruit spoons” were originally “orange spoons”, “steak knives” were originally “bird knives”, etc…. I have long suspected that this practice went on even more with silver plated utensils, as they were less expensive to work with and experiment on.

This image above shows an ice cream server hidden in the back of the ad, and a larger version of the same utensil, shown at the bottom of the page, is listed as a table *“crumber.” This image and text is from the book, “Collector’s Handbook for Grape Nuts” by Susie MacLachlan, 1970. When I first saw this book I assumed it was a cookbook for lovers of Grape Nuts cereal. I was stunned when I opened it to find that it is a book written for flatware collectors, especially for those who are nuts for the silver plated pattens, Vintage and Moselle, which feature lovely grapes in their designs.

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* Table Crumbing Etiquette: The cake looks inviting, but the salt and pepper? Not as much. The shakers should have been removed along with the crumbs. Tables should be crumbed after a meal, prior to when the dessert or fruit and cheese is served. When the table is crumbed, the salts, peppers and any other superfluous items and wines from previous courses should be removed, as well. It makes the dessert, sweets, fruit, cheeses, or other final courses look much more appetizing when the dinner table “extras” have been removed.

There it is, in the upper left corner of this old picture from a 1910 Home Journal, hiding behind the soup ladle. The newsletter was sent to me from Michigan by a friend, Louise Pursley. I tried to photo copy it, but it didn't reproduce well, so I went to the source. I bought the original article from Margaret Alves for the grand sum of $2.00, and got her blessing as well. Talk about bargains.

A number of factors make grape collecting confusing - but fascinating. From 1904 to 1918 pieces were redesigned, renamed or possibly even changed in size. Special orders combined parts of different pieces, and manufacturers freely swapped blanks, inserts and brand names.

Margaret Alves, editor of the Stirring Souvenir Spoon Newsletter, said above item “looks like a crumber or table scraper to me.”

Bill Bliss sent a book listing it as a "Portland Fish Serving Knife." The next day I bought the one pictured at a local shop! Bill also mentioned a variation in a 1915 catalog-an “Ice Cream Server HH” with the neck portion about one inch longer, and blade slightly wider.

Ed Hogan said manufacturers were "quite willing" to supply their standard patterns, and even blade and bowl inserts to their flatware lines for special orders.

Over the time span pieces became less ornate. Clay Crousen said they were ‘simplified and redesigned,” adding that size differences may have been created in the change.

VINTAGE

A. Hollow Handled ICE CREAM SERVER OR SLICER, 13"

$7.00-$40.00

No catalog number. Fish Knife

Original WHOLESALE

price $3.50

No catalog number. Fish Knife, H. H.

Original WHOLESALE price

$4.50

B. PORTLAND FISH KNIFE (FLAT), 12"

$7.00-$40.00

No catalog number. Ice Cream Server

Original WHOLESALE price $4.50

– From the book, “Collector’s Handbook for Grape Nuts” by Susie MacLachlan, 1970

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

Etiquette and Table Top Concerns

Party favors wrapped in “Tiffany blue” paper wait upon the seats to be placed at each of these bridal shower settings. Wait to unwrap such a favor until invited to do so by your host or hostess.

Individual Party Favors

Instead of place cards, sometimes small, festively wrapped party favors with a guest’s name on them are placed at each setting. Wait until the host or hostess encourages you to open yours though, as they are usually a special part of a well planned event.

Table Favors

Much like individual party favors, their larger counterparts, table favors, are meant for the entire table to enjoy. Sometimes these table favors are incorporated in to whimsically created centerpieces. It is incredibly rude to disassemble these types of table favors before one’s host or hostess invites or encourages everyone at the table to do so. 

After mingling briefly at a wedding’s pre-reception cocktail hour, my husband and I arrived at our assigned seats only to discover the table’s centerpiece had been thoroughly taken apart and eaten by four drunken guests also seated at my our table. I had to look around at the 30 or so other tables to enjoy all of the time and creativity which had been put into the still intact centerpieces. 

Table Crumbers

After the main course has been served, prior to dessert or fruit, the table may be “crumbed.” If the waiter or server is attempting to clean the table of crumbs, be your most polite and lean back a bit in from the table to allow him/her to do the job. 

It should only take a matter of seconds at each place setting and should not interfere with conversation at the table when allowed to be done in a smooth fashion. Table crumbers come in many types; miniature brooms or brushes with small “dust pans,” long handled and lidded rectangular dishes, and flat “scrapers” with pans or dishes to push the crumbs onto, etc....

Knife Rests

Another addition to some very formal tables are individual knife rests at each place setting. These are placed on the table above the tip of the knife for the diner to rest the tip on so as not to soil the linens or tablecloth. — From The Rsvp Institute of Etiquette “Social Graces Handbook,” 1990

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