Post Victorian Ideals On How To Create a Positive Atmosphere At Dinner

TURN OF THE CENTURY, POST VICTORIAN IDEALS - ON HOW TO DECORATE THE DINNER TABLE TO CREATE A POSITIVE DINING ATMOSPHERE

1901 EDITION OF SMILEY'S COMPLETE GUIDE FOR HOUSEKEEPERS, PUBLISHED BY THE TORONTO STAR

     IT WAS THE BEGINNING OF THE POST VICTORIAN ERA, WHEN THE GOOD FOLKS OF "SMILEY'S" RELEASED THEIR "COMPLETE GUIDE FOR HOUSEKEEPERS," PUBLISHED IN ONTARIO, BY THE TORONTO STAR. MAKING NO MISTAKE OF COURSE, THAT THE BOOK HAD ALREADY BEEN PUBLISHED NUMEROUS TIMES BEFORE THIS, IN THE LATE 1800'S, SO IT REALLY CAN'T BE SAID, TO BE ANYTHING MORE THAN A REPRINT OF VICTORIAN ERA TRENDS, BELIEFS, EXPECTATIONS, AND HOUSEHOLD STANDARDS. BUT, IT WAS NEW IN THIS SOMEWHAT REVISED FORM, LAUNCHED INTO A BRAND NEW CENTURY. IT'S OUR PAST, SO WE SHOULD FAMILIARIZE OURSELVES, IF WE DON'T ALREADY KNOWM, ABOUT WHERE SOME OF OUR CONTEMPORARY VALUES CAME FROM, INCLUDING WHAT WE SET-DOWN IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DINNER TABLE AS A MOOD ENHANCER. A MINIATURE STANLEY CUP? A NOSTALGIC VASE WITH PLASTIC FLOWERS? A RACK OF BILLIARD BALLS? I'VE HEARD ABOUT A LOT OF STRANGE CENTER PIECES, WHILE I'VE BEEN WORKING IN THE ANTIQUE TRADE, INCLUDING OF COURSE, SOME VERY EXTRAVAGANT AND BEAUTIFULLY APPOINTED ADORNMENTS, SET OUT FOR LARGE DINNER PARTIES, THAT COST A KING'S RANSOM TO CREATE. WHATEVER MAKES YOU FEEL GREAT ABOUT THE DINING EXPERIENCE BEYOND THE GOOD FOOD BEING SERVED; GO GO FOR IT!
     There is an interesting section in the text, dealing with "Table Decorations." This is still working on the late, late Victorian theme of decoration, but it's a subject that deserves a little extra attention. You won't read too much about it these days, as the dinner table isn't what it used to be; even from twenty years ago. We're a go-go modern society, and seldom find time to sit down at nightly, or weekly dinner events. It's kind of neat to watch the television, prime time, police-drama, "Blue Bloods," with a background of New York City, and catch the weekly supper gatherings with the Police Chief's (Tom Selleck's) whole family, seated around the large diningroom table; from grandfather to grandchildren. It certainly reminds Suzanne and I, of some of the mandatory gatherings, we were called to, as youngsters, on a weekly basis (every Sunday), as a means of bringing family and friends together socially, and culturally. Missing it meant you had to be out of the area; far, far out of the area. Otherwise, you were expected to be in attendance. They weren't extravagant by any means, except the food, which was country cooking at its best. The center pieces weren't all that elaborate, but there was always something with ferns hanging out of it, and some colorful flowers rising above.
     In the years we've been operating our antique business, there have been numerous occasions, when customers have posed the question, "what do you have that would make a neat center-piece for a dining table?" These folks were not looking for extravagant or predictable floral arrangements, in attractive glass or pottery vases, as convention might dictate. They had been looking for unique and interesting center pieces, that would create some intrigue amongst their guests, trying to figure out what the antique item was used for in its day. As an example, I have sold four vintage oil, and kerosene lamps, from antique cars, and from photographic dark rooms - called "safe" lights, because they have red glass, safe for exposure to photographic paper being processed in a darkroom. Why would these lamps make good center pieces?
     I have often been in a position, while hustling about second hand shops, and flea markets, that I have found a single kerosene car lamp, in useable condition, on sale for a small price. I have sold lots of single lamps from old wagons, even hearses, and antique cars and trucks in the past, but two of the most unusual, and useable, were made into a "guess what this is" center piece, for large dinner parties. The same with the "safe lights" which looked like old tin lanterns, except for the color of the glass. The idea, you see, is to use something like the auto lamps, and safe lights, as the middle of the crafted center piece, with a wreath of smaller, but equally odd antique pieces, from tools to kitchen implements few have ever seen before. There is a little contest run, at these celebratory dinners, to correctly guess all the pieces that have made up the antique-decoration of the table. Mixed in with these relics of course, are small florals, as accents. I've seen photographs of these, the customers kindly came back to the shop to show us, and they've all been thought provoking, not to mention quite attractive. When I was looking through the pages of Smiley's self help book, from 1901, I came upon a section about table decoration, and although it's not quite the same as what I've described above, it's still interesting to look back in time, to learn about the preparations for making a somewhat unique and remarkable statement, in the way of table decoration. Here now are a few lines from that turn of the century perspective, about what would make supper time even more memorable, than just the good taste of the prepared dinner.
     "The tasteful decoration of the table is no small item, and fortunately the tendency is now to decorate the tables more than formerly. In some circles the hostesses vie with each other, as to whose table shall be the most elegant, and in some cases, as much is spent on the flowers as on the dinner itself, employing for this purpose professional decorators. And yet a very large class of people do not sufficiently understand, the importance of appearances. It is a mistake to think that it is necessary to go to large expense in order to decorate a table prettily. Many flowers which are perfectly adapted for table decoration, can be bought for a mere trifle, or grown at home, while wild flowers have been found so pretty for this purpose, that they have been used by professional decorators at many grand dinners. Ladies with taste will find this a very pleasant task, while young people should be allowed to assist in decorating the table, and have their taste for arranging flowers encouraged."
     The book continues, "The great thing is to make the table pretty and attractive, and at the same time not like every one else's, and this can be very easily managed, and with very little expense, by using a little taste, forethought and time. Fashions change so often that it is impossible to give anything but hints for table decoration. One good rule is that the decorations should not impede the view across the table. Another is that they should all be of one color, or two colors, which harmonize well. It will be found easier to produce a good effect with one color in the flowers used, and variety in the foliage, than to blend a miscellaneous collection of blossoms. A good decorator will aim to place the flowers so that they will look natural, and as if growing. It detracts from their beauty to crowd them together. Let them stand clearly apart, their stems showing, with the grasses or ferns with which they are intermingled veiling, but not hiding them, nor resting on the blossoms.
     "If economy is an object, flowers can easily be had for nothing in the country, and each season of the year brings some flowers or foliage, with which very pretty ornaments can be arranged. In the spring, there are the primroses, cowslips, and other flowers, of that season; in the summer, water-lillies, grasses, etc.; in the fall the rich tinted foliage and berries, and in the winter, the fresh, dark evergreen needles. Those with taste and skill can arrange a lovely table with foliage alone, quite as pretty as a floral one. Field flowers mingled with grasses form a charming decoration, and so do buttercups properly arranged to stand up well without any crowding, with plenty of feathery foliage. One great charm about wild flowers, is that they possess so little scent. Strongly scented flowers are not advisable for table decorations, as many people cannot endure the odor. The only perfumed flower that seems to find general favor, is the rose, which is lovely for table decoration, and may be put into low bowls or baskets, or in single blooms in small glasses with only their own foliage. Yellows are a great favorite for dinner tables, and small dwarf sunflowers, alpine poppies, iris and marguerites are all favorites. Dried seaweed is a novel decoration, and one that may be made quite ornamental. Some of the finer, more delicate seaweeds, if carefully dried, keep their colors wonderfully. Palms can be used and made to form  very pretty centers on dinner tables, if the pot is hidden by moss and covered with flowers and foliage. Trails of colored ivy also look extremely pretty on a table cloth; they may be used as an edge to the colored strip, or as a border where there are small vases, or a basket of flowers on the table."
     The 1901 Household Advisor, notes that, "Where time cannot be spared for much decoration, plants may be used, and ferns especially look well. A dining room can be transformed into a veritable spring garden, with great branches of apple, cherry or peach blossoms; the deep, pink blossoms, of the flowering peach, make a most effective decoration. The smaller sprigs can be put in rose bowls, and placed on the table and sideboard; the most simple arrangement being the most pleasing. For a long table two or three vases of flowers, and dessert dishes of fruit, can be placed along the centre of the table, alternating with lamps or candelabra in the evening, but the decorations should not be so high as to obstruct the view of people across the table. The low globular vases of various sizes, called rose-bowls, are the best for this purpose. Flowers can be easily arranged in them, and they are not too high. The maidenhair fern is well suited for a foundation of green; two or three fronds with short stems, can be first placed in the vase, hanging gracefully over the sides of the glasses, then only a few flowers are needed to finish them. Roses, carnations, pansies, bright berries of the mountain ash, bush cranberry, small branches of red cranberries, and holly berries, are all desirable for decorative purposes. Goldenrod and other pungent flowers are best left off the table, but all delicate wild flowers, and ferns are pretty. They should be carefully shaken and examined for insects before they are placed in glasses.
     "The bouquets which we sometimes encounter at hotel tables and elsewhere, crowded with flower stems, and leaves decaying in water, unchanged for days, are repellant. The flower stems should be stripped of all leaves, in order that the water in the vases may not be discolored, and the water should be changed before each meal; and all faded flowers discarded. An inexpensive and effective way to decorate a table, is to make an imitation lake, although, it is rather troublesome. For this, a piece of looking glass is needed, long and narrow if possible, or take the glass from an old looking glass. The glass must be placed exactly in the centre of the table on a thick piece of brown paper, or double the thickness of newspaper, with the edge projecting an inch or so beyond the glass. The edge of the glass and the paper, must be well covered with moss and sprays of fern; pretty leaves and a few flowers are placed in the moss to hang partly over the glass. The effect is enhanced by placing four 'fairy' lamps at the corners of the imaginary lake with pieces of fern arranged to bend around the light. A great variety of figures may be arranged around a mirror and endless effects can be arranged around the edge of the glass, and raised in unequal heights to give the impression of a snowdrift, and the mirror powdered to represent ice. Spears of ivy, grasses and colored leaves, can be scattered around the drifts. Another pretty decoration, is to have, down the center of the table's narrow bank of ferns, pink tulips arranged as if growing. With a little taste and skill, a bed of flowers may be arranged in the center of the table, by laying damp ferns and moss, not on the cloth, but on a piece of oiled silk. For a small dinner, where the table is oval, the center looks well, completely hidden with folds of Chartreuse yellow silk.  "Stand in the center a large silver bowl, and at each corner place smaller bowls or cups. These would look charming filled with yellow marguerites, maidenhair fern, and asparagus grass. The bowls should be filled with sand, and the flowers arranged to look as if growing."
     The text suggests, "Buttercups, daisies, poppies, grasses, and wild clematis, are very pretty arranged in saucers of wet moss, so that none of the saucer can be seen. A pretty way to arrange flowers, which are not put in water, is to tie a few flowers and many grasses together, like sheaves of wheat, using ribbons which correspond in color with the flowers, and the sheaves may then be stood upright; but flowers should be selected which will stand heat, and being out of water without wilting. Wreaths may also be made of suitable flowers, tied with ribbons and strewn about. Again, two horse-shoes can be placed at each end of the table, and down the sides place alternately smaller ones, made of primroses and violets, in which the menus are placed. Daffodils always look pretty, and so do wild roses. Mountain ash berries, when ripe, set in richly tinted autumn foliage, make a lovely decoration. Upon very large tables, tall vases and high decorations are best. Choose flowers according to the season, and the center piece, if there is one. In summer a cool effect is needed, and plenty of white and green should be found upon the table; while in winter, it is pleasant to see brilliantly colored flowers, that seem to give warmth as well as brightness. Glasses through which the stems of flowers can be seen, should be filled with water, but bowls or opaque stands can be filled with moss or sand, in which it is far easier to arrange flowers than in water.
     "This is not the age of heavy dinners nor heavy decorations. The dinner tables of fashionable people, are things of lightness and delivery, and the menus to correspond. The best rules in floral decoration are to keep to one or two kinds of flowers, using their own foliage as much as possible; to consider color and shade, and aim to produce light and airy effects. Never put flowers in a vase without adding green of some kind, like leaves or ferns, and never put too many flowers into the same vase, as they never look pretty when crowded together. In picking flowers and foliage, get the stems as long as possible, as they can then be more easily arranged. Do not allow any leaves to be in the water; when they grow down to the bottom of the leaf stalk, strip away all the lower ones so that nothing but the stalk will enter the water. Put flowers, as much as possible, into vases so shaped, as not to upset easily, and which will at the same time make them look natural. For table decorations, avoid flowers that have a peculiar or strong scent. Finally, remember that practice makes perfect in this, as in other things. If the tables are lighted by lamps they should be well shaded. It is most distressing, besides being injurious to the eyes, to have the unshaded glass of a kerosene lamp, shining into the eyes while at the table."
     As our family now is one that seldom gets together for any meals, except while dining out, the center piece concept is best only for Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and Easter. I feel bad about this, because Suzanne and I grew up with these large family suppers as embedded tradition. But it's a new era in home dining. Long, long past our Victorian way of doing things.