Cloth Napkins

12/14/2013

I know it's early in the morning and you probably are only midway through a cup of coffee (and for the record so am I).  Difference between the two of us is that you're waiting for my "pearls of wisdom" and I'm in my chair trying to think what those "pearls" are going to be today!

Don't bother to ask me how I decided that I should share with you my vast knowledge (available on the internet) of cloth napkins.  Once I started digging around I found out more than I needed to know about the size, weight and proper usage.

I cannot speak from experience on this subject because I don't own any cloth napkins.  I believe when I first got married, Jeff and I were given napkins and somewhere along the line and many years ago, they disappeared.  More likely than not they were donated to some charity - and we both know how useful those napkins would be for most people.  I like paper napkins - no washing and no ironing!

Here's what I found out, and some of this stuff is really interesting.

By the Bronze Age, something like a napkin was in use in many parts of the world. The first recorded use of the napkin was by the Romans. When that hearty eater, Buffetus Allucaneatus, reached for his napkin at the Roman dinner table, he didn’t find a cloth. What he used was some wadded up unbaked dough, which he pressed to his face. That removed whatever bits and morsels of food were sticking to it. Later, if he wished, he could bake and eat his napkin, morsels and all.  (Trust me people I'm not making this stuff up, it's on the internet so it must be true)!

Cloth napkins come in several sizes.A beverage napkin is used when serving drinks and hors d’oeuvres, and is about five inches to each side. A luncheon napkin is a couple of inches larger, and a dinner napkin larger still. If, and that's a big if, you had a stockpile of all these different size napkins, remember you have to store them somewhere!

I know you're dying to know what the standard sizes of napkins are.  They are 16x16, 18x18, 20x20 and 21x21.  Armed with this knowledge you will be able to answer any trivia questions regarding the size of napkins, in case it ever comes up in conversation (and I'm pretty sure it won't).

There is a lot of discussion on the internet about going green by both making and/or using cloth napkins every day.  I guess I never thought about using cloth napkins and when I think about it, I guess there's no reason not to do so.  If I used cloth napkins, then I'd feel compelled to iron them, which would mean doing a scavenger hunt through the house to find the iron!

So there's napkin trivia for the day.  I'm going out to a nice restaurant tonight where I know the napkins will be large, white and made of cloth!

Happy Saturday everybody.

P