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 SMP Silver Salon Forums
 A Curator's Viewpoint
 Lettuce Knives of Old
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| Author | Topic: Lettuce Knives of Old |
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Belle unregistered |
posted 12-03-2002 12:43 AM
 
Anyone know anything about lettuce knives? My mother said that, back in the 1920's and 1930's, she was taught not to use a knife to cut lettuce in a salad. Etiquette allowed only for the use of the side of a salad fork to cut the lettuce. However, she remembers her mother telling her about lettuce knives that were popular some time between 1900 and 1920 (possibly earlier). I have never seen a lettuce knife, and I wonder if anyone can post a picture of one for me. Does anyone know the story behind them? Where, when, and by whom were they made? Were they ever really acceptable at upper eschelon dinners? IP: Logged |
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Ulysses Dietz Moderator Posts: 1265 |
posted 12-03-2002 09:07 AM
First of all, remember that etiquette is never immutable. Etiquette was, after all, made up by people who simply had stronger opinions than most as to how to behave. My impression is that a lettuce knife is a serving piece and not a place piece. Does anyone out there know differently? Salad forks in the 19th century sometimes have a wide tine on one side, like a mini-blade for cutting salad (the concept of a salad fork does not exist before the Civil War, and only appears steadily in the late 1880s as a place piece--so it is a made-up object to satisfy production desires and subsequent consumer demand). These days, by the way, allow for cutting salad with a knife, since the real point of etiquette is to keep things simple and attractive while people eat. Etiquette does have its roots in separating the aristocrat from the peasant, but it's far more complicated than that. IP: Logged |
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Terrell Posts: 7 |
posted 12-05-2002 12:40 AM
The lettuce knives were not serving pieces. My mother remembers an advertisement for lettuce knives that said, "Now you can CUT your lettuce!". They were set at each place setting for individual use. Anybody ever heard of them? IP: Logged |
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Ulysses Dietz Moderator Posts: 1265 |
posted 12-05-2002 08:49 AM
So, witholding information, huh? This sounds like a marketing innovation developed as the etiquette rules were relaxing. What a great way to sell more flatware! Clearly, lettuce knives never caught on, so I'd bet they'd be rare. Can anyone out there shed some light? Scott--this might be a great one to post on the general forum, because that's where the esoteric information often is. IP: Logged |
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Ulysses Dietz Moderator Posts: 1265 |
posted 12-05-2002 08:52 AM
BY the way, I was thinking of a lettuce FORK, which was a serving piece in the late 19th century--for piercing and picking up pieces of lettuce for salad plates. A good way to check on this would be to scan old copies of Emily Post and other pre-WWII etiquette books to see when the rigid "no cutting salad" rules began to slide. IP: Logged |
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