Just in case you wanted a refresher on vintage table manners, here's some pointers from a 1890 Victorian cookbook:
The source of all good manners is a nice perception of , and kind consideration for, not only the rights, but the feelings of others. The customs of society are adopted and observed to enable us to be more agreeable. And nowhere is the distinction between gentleman and the boor more marked than at the table.
- Once sated at the table. gloves are drawn off and laid in the lap under the napkin, which is spread lightly, not tucked in.
- Soup is always served for the first course, and it should be eaten with dessert spoons, and taken from the sides, not the tips of them, without any sounds of the lips, and not sucked into the mouth audibly from the ends of the spoon.
- Sit upright at the table, without bending over or lowering your head to partake of your food. Do not sit too far away or too near the table, and do not sit with one arm lying on the table with your back half-turned to your left hand neighbor.
- Then one who serves at the table should not help too abundantly, or flood the food with gravies, as many do not like them, and it is better to allow each guest to help himself. Water should be poured to the right of a person - everything else is passed to the left. Do not watch the dishes while being uncovered or talk with your mouth full. If you discover anything objectionable in the food, do not attract the attention of others to it, but quietly deposit it under the edge of your plate.
- One's teeth are never picked at the table; but if it is impossible to hinder it, it should be done behind the napkin
- Let the food be taken to the mouth, and not the mouth to the food.
- At the conclusion of a course, where they have been used, a knife and fork should be laid side by side across the middle of the plate - never crossed - with handles to the right. The servant should offer everything at the left of the guest, that the guest may be at liberty to use the right hand, except water, which is poured at the right side.
- When you rise from your chair, leave it where it stands.
