Mower County transcript., 1890-07-09
MODERN DINNER TABLES,
Ihe Aage for decoration Overwhelm
. tho Taste for Food. @

Z : 8F IA
Tho Rage for Decoration Ovarwhalm,n~
. tho Taste for Food.
Is the diner-out of to-day better or
worse treated, as regards the quality
ana quantity OF his fare, than his pre-
oeoessor OF twenty, thirty or forty years
ago?
"hether we get more or less, or bot
ser or worse, to eat than formally, we
'or."lnly have great deal more to
LOOK at. The hospitable board that
once IN the language Of the reporter Of
o!oen days, "groaned" under the weight
VI sadoles and sirloins, barons and
ch1nes, now shippers under the imposi-
tlon OF satin and plush, gilt cupids and
outterhy nets, French toys, and Ameri-
can 1aVors, orchids OF price, tho COM
mon Held flowers, combined with
enough greeney to furnish forth the
material for q respectable May-day
festival.
Inc desire to crafty two senses at
one and the same time probably first
| INSPIRED men to eat their dinners at q
nower-decked table, and it has led
others mistakenly to spoil their feasts
with music. or their music with FEAST
Ing, whichever way one likes to put it.
what appears most striking in the
decorative methods now in vogue is q
certain failure in tho sense of pro-
portion, which is becoming more pro-
nounced each season, and is hurrying
people into extravagances that are
bound sooner or later to bring about
reaction in favoy Of simplicity. 1t was
one thing to ad orn a dinner table ar
tlstlcally with flowers and fruit-al.
though fruit on tho table is hardly now
permissible-bs.t it is another thing al
together to build up with infinite
pains and expense a colossal dec
orative trophy, with birds and but
terf1ies, squirrels aloft and rabbits
below, burrowing under flower-covered
faggots, around which space is barely
left here and there for the plate Of an
unfortunate diner, who struggles with
trails Of ivy dabbling in his soup, and
sprays of maiden-hair and mimosa
bending into his wine-glass, like weep
ing willows aroud duck-pond. while
he gets through his dinner with as un-
comfortable premonition of earwigs
and creeping things as If he were as
sisting at that most decomposing of So
cial entertainments, genuine picnic.
The evil does not seem likely to end
here, however. We are warned of fur
ther developments in the immediate
future. The scheme of decoration is to
undergo expansion, and t0 rise above
the table, and to take in its surround.
ings. The covering of ceilings with
blooms fixed in wooden frames was
practiced with considerable effect at
some entertainments last season. Re-
Gently young lady arranged dinner
table above which, as part of the deco.
ration, hoated gauze clouds within whose
folds birds and butterflies were impris-
oned.
If this fancy endure we may expect
many strange metamorphoses to take
effect in London dining-rooms, and the
liberty of the subject is likely to be in
terfered with by arbitrary restrictions
being imposed upon the color and
fashion of the ladies' dresses. Not long
ago the introduction of q new form Of
menu card, in the shape Of a ship in
full sail, inspired dinner-giver to
carry out the idea of its integrity by
making the center ornament of her
table a blue satin ship with the rigging
outlined with button roses, the lady
guests being requested to attire them-
selves in blue satin dresses, made in
nautical fashion, with wreaths Of roses
perched on one side of the head. In this
case only the daughters of the house,
whose style the costume probably
suited, were sufficiently impressed with
the solemnity of the farce to think it
necessary to dress up to the menu card.
-Cornhill Magazine.