Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1874-02-10
THE ROMANCE OF TRADE.
Service that Fashion Has Done
to Commerce.


How and When Forks Came In-Earth-
enuare-GIOyes-Fas i'm Foot
Gear.
OF the effects of fashion upon trade
there is no lack of curious instances.
Nearly every stage, indeed. Of mans
progress from his first rude barbarism
to his present civilization, and of the
CONSEQUENT increase of commerce., called
upon to satisfy his growing needs and
artificial requirements, may be said to
have been in part built up by fashion.
Thousands Of commodities, now looked
upon as absolute necessities of life, or
only proper luxuries, have been brought
into use by noVelty-hunters, whose
whim or wisdom has been initiated by
others, until each new-fangled fashion
has given birth to an important trade.
FASHIONS IN FORKS.
Forks, for example, now indispensl-
bic at every dinner table, and furnish
ing employment to half dozen differ
ent trades, have hardly been IN common
use IN England for 200 years. Il OBJ
served" said tn old traveller, Thos.
Coryate, in his 'Crudities. published
in 1911, "a custom IN all those Italian
cities and towns throughwhich have
passed that Is not used in any other
country that I saw IN my travels;
neither do l think thata other nation
of Christendom doth use 1t, but only
Italy. The Italians do always at their
meals use little fork when they cut
their meat. For while with the knife,
which they hold in one hand, they cut
the meat out of the dish, they fasten
the fork. which they hold IN their other
hand. upon the same dish; so that one
who should unadvisedly touch the dish
of meat with his fingers, from which all
the table do cut, viii give occasion of
offense unto the company, lnsOmuch
that for his error he shall be at the
least browbeaten, if not reprehendedin
words.
This form OF feeding is generally
used in all places of Italy; their forks
being, for the most part, made of iron,
steel, and some of silver, but those are
used only by gentlemen. The reason
of this their curiosity is because the
Italian cannot by any means endure to
have his dish touched with fingers, see
ing that all mems fingers are not alike
clean. HereupOn, | myself thought
good to initiate the italian fashion by
this forked cutting of meat, not only
while 1 was in Italy, but also IN Ger
many, and oftentimes IN England,
since | came home"
Forks seem TO have been employed In
Italy-by some, at any rate-slnce the
eleventh century; and though COryate
NAV be correct In his boast of having
first brought them into use IN England,
thew were known in that country be-
fore his time. To Queen Elizabeth
were presented, at different times, "a
fork of crystal, garnished with gold
slightly, and sparks of garnets" "a
fork of coral, garnished with gold; and
''a fork of gold, garnished with two lit
tie rubies, two little pearls pendant,
and a little coral" But the dainty
queen preferred the old habit Of finger
inc the meat, and forks were for long
time regarded as a worthless, fOppish
institution.
PREACHING AGAINST FORKS.
One divine, in James Is reign,
preached a sermon against forks. de-
cIarinp If to be ''an insult on Proyi-
dence not to touchone' e'smeatwithone's
fingers" and Fynes Morrison, in his
s.Itinerarv.' published In 1917, ad-
yised all travellers, returning home, to
Law aside the spoon and fork of Italy,
the affected gesture of France, and all
strange apparel" Merecraft, IN Ben.
Johnson's Devil is an Ass, makes
fun of forks, when speaking of his
sspains at court" to obtain for hlmsefa a
monopoly in favor of
ssThe laudable use of forks,
Brought into custom here, as they are IN Italy,
To the sparing Of napkins,
which would have resulted IN his max
ing of gold and silver forks for the
better personages, and of steel ones
''for the common sort
In one of Beaumont and Fletcher's
plays, your fork carving traveller Is
spoken of as an object of contempt.
Even in 1852, Heylin, speaking of the
ivory sticks used for eating IN ChIna,
said .the use of silver forks came from
hence into Italy, and with US, taken up
OF late DIV SOlAlC VI Jul bCN -eAAAfiANS,
from thence into England. Forks
were then, and for some time after,
looked upon as the absurd affectations Of
coxcombs; they only came into general
use late in the seventeenth century.
EARTHENwARE.
Hardly older Is the common employ
ment of earthenware plates and dishes
instead Of wooden platters; but the
effects of fashion trade have been shown
more notably IN the case of the finer
sorts of pottery. 1t was the demand
for antique Etruscan wares that first
gave an impetus to improvement IN the
rude earthenware manufacture Of old
times: and fresh encouragement came
with the introduction in Europe of the
delicate workmanship of China and
Japan
The Dresden factory owes its great
ness to this cause, and it was TO rival
Dresden that porcelain manufacture
was started at Sevres, where the busi-
ness threatened to die out before
Madame de Pompadour's passion for
china induced Louis XIV to buy up
the establishment, and put 1t in fair
way Of success. Josiah Wedgwood |
L. ]