Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1882-09-09
BREAKFAST TABLES.
tbs MORNING MEAL IN THIS COUNTRY
AND ABROAD.
American and English Breakfast Tables
British Service Described-Cof.
tee-Pots, Egg-Cups, etc

America may be emphatically called the
iand of breakfasts. Whether it is in adj.
vance OF other countries in the details and
appointments of the breakfast table is g
question we'll worthy of consideration.
Heavy breakfasts are by no means unknown
in other countries, but 1t may fairly be as
serted that, taking society class by class,
from the highest to the lowest grade, more
consideration is bestowed upon the ques-
tion here than anywhere else. 1t is mat
ter of nc little surprise that the prevailing
estheticism of the day has not invaded the
early morning hours and replaced beef
steak and outlets by mere ethereal food,
and so far as we can ascertain, the prophet
OF reform has not uttered any protest
against the Injuries of hot bread, griddle
cakes or biscuits, but has devoted all the
energy which lecturing and an appreciation
of the inartistic DEVELOPMENT of the ordi.
nary mind have left him TO a consideration
OF the hideons forms imposed upon the
equipags of the table by modern cup and
saucer purveyors.
FASHION,
That great man of the mountain, under
whose iron rule we languish, must be held
responsible for such sins against taste and
refinement as perverted milk jugs and dis
located cream pitchers, to say nothing Of
fiat tea-pots and inebriated coffee higgins,
but fashion, so far, has not laid deterrent
finger upon the gridiron or the stew.pan.
They, II lnartlstic, are equal TO the demands
made upon them, and there is no evidence,
even among the worn out ultra fashion
ables at Newport or Saratoga, of that ina.
bil'ty TO do justice to good breakfast
which is characteristic of the rich. bred
Engiishwoman. So far, at all events, the
attractions OF a meal consisting of dry
| toast and tea, OF light boiled egg, or a
rasher Of bacon daintily reposing upon a
sprig of parsley are confined 10 those envi.
able persons VINO, in spite of the possibility
of being Prussians, Arabs, or Italians. are
British to the backbone. No foreign kick
shaws are found at John Bulls breakfast
table, and the odor of
HOT BREAD
ls unknown, except upon Monday morn
ing, when the neighbors would certainly
| think it odd if the baker lett no hot rolls
at the basement door. None the less, how.
ever, the English breakfast table in a com.
Portable home is pleasant sight to see,
The ethereal nature of the food supply is
counter balanced by the daintiness and
nicely Of the table appointments. No.
where else in modest homes are such break
fast sets to be seen /; no matter how mex
perslye or how unassamips, the cups, the
plates, the utensils generally will be of
such shape and design that William Morris
himself could eat without having his teeth
set on edge. This fact and it will be
readily admitted, Is due In no small meas
ure 60 that great reformer In the realm of
pottery, Josiah Wedgwood. He gave it
as his decided opinion tast, all things being
equal, cups and saucers, jugs and pitchers,
might as we'll be OF good form and shape
as not, and divided his attention between
the perfecting of glaze and celebrating de-
signs OF which should fulfill the require.
ment of art. The result OF which has
been that owing TO the British propensity
to copy everything manufactured in hand
some style in some inferior material, every
CAipa store in London will furnish cheap
limitations OF Wedgwocds masterpieces.
and,Alinton's last efforts will be reproduced,
at considerable distance, it is true, in
common pottery.
IF CULTURED TASTE
Calls fer plates with deep.t toned borders.
initiative emulation will at once produce
stone china with an unadorned surface and
deep-red line. There is reason for this,
as for most other things, which lies below
the surface. The average English mind
mas no independence. 1t is sufficient that
cup or plate, a jug or a glass, has OBJ.
tanned the patronage of royalty or of some
supposed authority upon the subject to
make it an absolute necessity of domestic
peace, and that the style and that shape
shall adorn the table of the modest villa.
And there is one obvious advantage in this
when the upper classes happen to be
cultured in art and capable of recognizing
correct form and design, the taste spreads,
not because the masses are educated up to
the necessary appreciation of the fact, but
because it is genuine article of faith with
them that what is " the thing" in the rank
above them is the thing to be initiated.
This we know is true of more important
things in the same way. And, excepting
in the comparatively small circle which
comprises
THE FASHIONABLE WORLD
OF large cities land fashionable circles are
the same here and there), or in those art
circles where all that is old and foreign is
ranked as of necessity better than that
which is genuinely American, the spirit of
the people of this country asserts itself.
The average American is rarely swayed in
his choice of cups and saucers by the fact
that one enjoys the approval of the Presi-
dent and another does not, and as the aver
age American is not highly cultivated in
art principles, In spite of tremendous eff
forts upon the part of lecturers and decora.
tive agents, he Is apt to buy the cup, saH-
Ger, or milk jug with will stand the most
wear and tear, or which commends itself to
his individual taste. The result is a pre-.
valence of white china for ordinary use I'M
equaled except in France and Germany.
With dinner sets we have at present no.
thing to do, or we might pass reflection
upon the extraordinary persistence with
which white dishes appear upon the scenes
at boarding houses and smaller hotels.
How ugly they are The blue and white
deli ware Of England, be it only in the
humble Humphrey CLOCK" or willow pat
tern, IS thousand times better. Who in
the length or breadth of the British Isles
would have white dinner set Occa.
sionally, bat very occasionally, white
breakfast ware is seen, but more usually it
has giided rim, or that solitary flower
upon the center which is inseparable from
our recollection of the breakfast set in
lodging houses in London, Brighton, or any
other popular resort. It's great merit,
which commends the unblushing white
ware to the
AMERICAN HoUSEKEEPER
Lies IN the fact that it isso easily matched
we should say it is-easily matched in
material, but perfectly unmatchable in
hideous ueliness. There is some compen.
sation in France and Germany for ungalnly
thick white cups in the flavor and aroma
OF the coffee they contain; one ia even
reconciled to the absence of all order in
the appointments of the table in consider
alton of this fact, but certainly if the
prevalence of thinner variety of the
same in America is due 70 the tide of Ger.
man Immigration, that is weighty reason
| for misunderstanding IL Tho German