The Joy of Napkins

Napkins have been around longer than you may think.  The ancient Romans are known to have used cloth napkins to protect from food spill and to wipe the mouth. The guests at a dinner brought their own napkins and carried away left-over food in them. With the fall of Roman Empire, napkins disappeared from the dining table.
 Napkins returned to the dining table many centuries later. By the 16th century, napkins were part of rich dining experience and came in many sizes, known by various names like diaper, serviette, touaille (for towel) depending on the size and intended use.

In the 17th century the use of big sized napkins measuring 35inches by 45 inches were used to help accommodate the needs of eating with bare hands instead of spoon/forks. The size reduced when forks and spoons were accepted as part of regular dining experience in major parts of Europe in the 18th century including Great Britain. The 17th century also saw French come up with elaborate rules for nobility class which included instructions on napkin usage, a predecessor to modern day napkin etiquette, including the one which instructs the guests to not use the napkin for wiping the face or cleaning the teeth or worse, blowing the nose.

The usage of a napkin ring or a serviette holder started in Europe during the Napoleonic period. Mostly used by bourgeoisie’s family, a napkin ring served as a means to identify who each napkin belonged to. The practical use of the napkin ring soon spread throughout the western world and it is still widely used today.

No matter what the occasion – a formal dinner party , a casual meal on any given weeknight, or a weekend brunch – using a cloth napkin will make the meal seem special and is an easy and inexpensive way to enhance your sense of abundant living.