A 2nd Debut Table Setting Review

“Breakfast and luncheon napkins may be small, but dinner napkins should be from 18 to 20 inches square. They are placed to the left of the silver, or if the table is crowded, on the service plate.” ~ This very early 20th C. breakfast setting is confusing as the napkins are placed in a way that guests may wonder which napkin belongs to whom… 

TABLE SETTING IMPORTANT FOR PROPER DINNER

Homemakers' Bureau Suggests How to Arrange Linens, Dishes and Silverware

Table setting is often a problem for housewives. Books of etiquette sometimes disagree sharply as to what's proper. Sometimes it's a matter of geography, too, with the East and West far apart. For western homes, where informality is the rule, the Safeway Stores Homemakers Bureau has prepared guide. Here in outline form, are its main points:

• Table linen should be spotless. 
• Doilies, either linen or lace, are appropriate for informal luncheons and dinners. 
• Colored linens are used only for luncheon and breakfast.
• For more formal service, completely cover the table, using linen or banquet cloth or an elaborate lace cloth. This is placed on the bare polished table and not over colored cloth.
• Napkins should match linen in color if not in material.
• Breakfast and luncheon napkins may be small, but dinner napkins should be from 18 to 20 inches square. They are placed to the left of the silver, or if the table is crowded, on the service plate. 
• They may be folded in a triangle for breakfast or lunch but the usually folded very simply for dinner. 
• If folded in rectangular shape, place with open lower corner nearest the plate. 
• Never stand a napkin on the table.
• Table decorations should be kept simple. A centerpiece is always appropriate, but should be kept low, not obstructing the view across the table. 
• Candles have no place on the luncheon or tea table unless they are lighted and the room darkened by drawing the shades. 
• Silverware, whether plate or sterling, should be kept well polished and courses should not be included in the menu if the proper silver is not available. However, it is possible to substitute for various pieces. 
• The position of flat silver is, as a rule, one inch from the edge and vertical to the edge of the table, placing it in correct sequences as used, beginning from the outside and working towards the plate. – San Bernardino Sun, 1934

This article is a second debut article first published here in October 2017.

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

Table Setting — The Linen

In the colored damasks every woman will find an opportunity to vary her table setting effects occasionally with a harmonious combination of pastel shades in tablecloth, glass, china and centerpiece. But the conservative woman still uses white damask for her formal dinners, and undoubtedly will continue to do so.

White linen damask is the classic covering for the dinner-table. Linen and lace are often combined and sometimes elaborate all lace tablecloths are used. When a lace cloth is used, it is placed on a bare table.

In the colored damasks every woman will find an opportunity to vary her table setting effects occasionally with a harmonious combination of pastel shades in tablecloth, glass, china and centerpiece. But the conservative woman still uses white damask for her formal dinners, and undoubtedly will continue to do so.

Tablecloths

Before you buy your tablecloths, carefully measure your tableand allow a twelve-to-fifteen-inch overhang for your dinner cloths, and an eight-to-twelve-inch overhang for your luncheon cloths.

Tablecloths should be French hemmed, with the hem three-eighths of an inch to one-half an inch wide, and napkins, also French hemmed, have hems of from one-eighth of an inch to one-quarter of an inch wide.

A white linen damask cloth is as appropriate for the formal or informal luncheon as for the formal or informal dinner. Gay colored sets of damask or of less formal materials are often used. Linen runners, with small luncheon napkins to matchare popular, especially on long tables like refectory tablesAn especially beautiful table is sometimes left bare except for the mats under the centerpiece, plates, and glasses. Damask napkins are used with these.

Luncheon sets are appropriate for use at breakfast, luncheon, an informal dinner, or supper.

For the tea table one may use an embroidered or hemstitched teacloth, or a simple or elaborate lace cover, or a combination of linen and lace.

Napkins

Tablecloths and napkins should match. For formal dinners an unusually large napkin is smart, but nowadays napkins, like most other “furnishings,” have shrunk, and one rarely encounters dinner napkins larger than twenty-eight inches and usually not larger than twenty-four inches.

Luncheon napkins are from thirteen inches to eighteen inches square. White hemstitched luncheon napkins are often used with a white linen damask cloth.

Breakfast napkins, often colored or with a colored border to match the cloth, are usually a bit smaller than luncheon napkins but may be the same size.

Appropriate to the appointments of the tea table are the small tea napkins, sometimes of fine handkerchief linen with scalloped edges, sometimes of damask with hemstitched borders, and sometimes of heavy linen with drawnwork borders. In houses with Early American furnishings —and with excellent laundry technic— the old-fashioned damask napkins with fringe edges add a charmingly quaint touch. But with uncertain laundering these are very apt to be unattractive looking. — “The American Woman’s Cookbook,” 1951

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