The knife and fork were not made for playthings, and should not be used as such when people are waiting at the table for the food to be served. Do not hold them erect in your hands at each side of your plate, not cross them on your plate when you have finished, nor make a noise with them.
I often wonder what people of the past would think about our contemporary eating habits. Sitting in any odd food hall I feel that past manners have been replaced with convenient and fast food. But, what were the manners of the past?
After a short look through our collection I came across some interesting books on manners and etiquette. For those who are etiquette unacquainted, here’s a brief run down of some of the dos and don’t of the past…
‘Cheese’ must be eaten with a fork….Never bite fruit… Do not scrape your plate to get the last drop… Never use a napkin in the place of a handkerchief by wiping the forehead or blowing the nose with it…
… it is considered vulgar to dip a piece of bread into the preserves or gravy upon your plate and then bite into it… Soup should be eaten with the side of the spoon, not from the point and there should be no noise… Never if possible cough or sneeze at the table…
…if anything unpleasant is found in the food, such as a hair in the bread or a fly in the coffee, remove it without remark…
Young ladies should not indulge in a variety of wines, nor indeed in very much wine … When drinking do not empty the glass at one gulp; it is very vulgar to do so..
… Eat neither too fast nor too slow… Never lean back in your chair nor sit too near or too far from the table.. food is to be eaten quietly and not ravenously .. It is not considered polite to eat up the last scrape of every food or every crumb of bread.’
Ref:
‘Etiquette for Ladies’, Ward Lock & Co, Australia /England 1925
‘Decorum'(etiquette& dress), USA, 1879
‘Etiquette: A handbook for all occasions to suit Australian conditions’ Ross Bros, Pty Ltd Publications, Sydney, Australia date unknown
Pyke, L M ‘Australian Etiquette: Rules of Good Society’, Wilke & Co Pty Ltd, Melbourne, Australia, 1938