More Crescent Side Plate Etiquette

 A “steel bladed bird knife and bird fork” paired with a typical 19th Century “game plate” and a crescent shaped “bone plate.” –  From What Have We Here? The Etiquette and Essentials of Lives Once Lived, from the Georgian Era through the Gilded Age and Beyond...

The “game course” was once a staple of fine dining and expensive sets of “game plates” were purchased by fastidious hosts and hostesses, to serve the game on to each of their dinner guests. The game sets featured a usual dozen plates, each with a different motif. 

In Gilded Age dining, after the roast course, the game course was next in order (if it was included, as it generally was in an elaborate dinner). Celery was the appropriate accompaniment of the game course, as it was eaten with the fingers. Salads as accompaniments were not recommended. The steel fork tines and knife blades were known to taint the flavor of salads and their dressings.

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

 

Etiquette and the “Napkin Burrito”

 

Gloves, once removed, had to join evening bag, fan, and large damask napkin, all precariously balanced on a slippery, possibly satin-sheathed lap. Emily Post suggested rather daringly (‘this ought not to be put in a book of etiquette, which should say you must do nothing of the kind’) that one might cover all these objects with the napkin placed cornerwise across the knees ‘and tuck the two side corners under like a lap robe, with the gloves and the fan tied in place, as it were.’” Basically, what she described results in a “burrito” of sorts.

“Creating what I call the ‘napkin burrito’...

“Gilded Age fashion for women dictated every little detail. And when it came to dressing for formal, Gilded Age dinners, bare shoulders for women with covered arms, was the reigning style. Very long, elbow-length, buttoned gloves were the fashionable evening choice, even though the gloves would have to be removed prior to eating one morsel of food. 

These long, multi-buttoned, gloves proved quite difficult to remove gracefully for many women. So difficult, that manufacturers designed gloves that could be rolled back upon the top of the hands in a ‘tacky’ effect, leaving the fingers sticking out from below. It gave a gluttonous appearance of someone in such a hurry to dine, that she just couldn’t be bothered to do what other female members of the dinner party had done — unbuttoned the gloves and removed them completely.

According to Margaret Visser in her book with The Rituals of Dinner, ‘The etiquette manuals were never very sure whether they approved of this labour saving device; Emily Post pronounced it ‘hideous.’ Gloves, once removed, had to join evening bag, fan, and large damask napkin, all precariously balanced on a slippery, possibly satin-sheathed lap. Emily Post suggested rather daringly (‘this ought not to be put in a book of etiquette, which should say you must do nothing of the kind’) that one might cover all these objects with the napkin placed cornerwise across the knees ‘and tuck the two side corners under like a lap robe, with the gloves and the fan tied in place, as it were.’ She went further, since one could no longer count on receiving a very large napkin, and promoted the carrying of paper clips, by gentlemen as well as ladies, to hold the napkin in place. All this assumes that a civilized diner would never require any dabbing at the lips with a napkin during dinner.’

“Basically, what she described results in a ‘burrito’ of sorts. – From Maura J. Graber’s book, “What Have We Here? The Etiquette and Essentials of Lives Once Lived, from the Georgian Era through the Gilded Age and Beyond...”, 2021

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

Butler Measuring Stick Etiquette for Place Settings

 An Antique Butler’s Measuring Stick

What Have We Here? A 19th Century butler’s measuring stick. — The “24-inch rule” is one of the first rules of formal place settings. These 2 feet refer to the ideal amount of space from the centre of one plate to the cen- tre of the next plate, allowing the place settings to have numerous pieces of flatware and stemware for the dinner, along with plenty of elbow room or body space for each guest. Butlers’ measuring sticks were necessary in the Gilded Age and Edwardian Era, for measuring settings for multi course dinners. Everything had to be aligned properly. The best rulers were those like this, which could fold up very small and fit into the butler’s or footman’s pocket.

A footman in the movie Gosford Park (shown to the left of the setting) using a similar folding measuring stick for setting the long dining table in preparation for a formal dinner.

The flatware for any vertical utensils (the salad fork, dinner fork, knife, and soup spoon, cocktail fork, etc...) should be spaced a half an inch or so away from each other, and the bottoms of each utensil should be aligned with the bottom of the service plate, place plate or charger. The flatware placed horizontally above the plate for dessert can be a bit closer or farther from one another, unless it encroaches on stemware or anything in the center of the table. Note: The soup spoon is upside down in the French fashion of placing spoons and forks upside down on the table. French flatware is monogrammed on the reverse side, whereas American monograms are usually found on the front of flatware handles.

From the new book, “What Have We Here?”: The Etiquette and Essentials of Lives Once Lived, from the Georgian Era through the Gilded Age and Beyond... by Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia Site Editor, Maura Graber

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