Postby JLDoggett » Thu Jul 23, 2009 3:33 am
A place setting would include from 3-pieces (knife, fork and spoon) to over 50 pieces. Today the basic place setting would include 5 pieces, a dinner knife, a teaspoon, a cream soup/consume spoon, a dinner fork and a salad fork. The total number of items in a place setting has always been dictated by the eating habits of the time it was made and the time of day the silver was used. In the 1970 the individual butter spreader was deleted from the basic place setting.
A basic flatware service would, usually, include some multiple of 4 place settings. It is typical to find services for 8 or 12.
A full silver service would include a breakfast service, a luncheon service, a tea/dessert set and a dinner service with all the necessary serving pieces from asparagus tongs to tureen ladles and ashtrays to water pitchers. A full service includes all the flatware and hollow-ware in a pattern and such a service could include hundreds of pieces.
For a long time in the U.S. it was typical for many brides to receive a single piece (IE. a knife, fork or spoon or serving piece), a set of one piece (IE. 4 demitasse spoons), or a place setting as a wedding gift from friends and family. What was given depended on the closeness of the giver and their ability to afford the items. This was one of the original reasons for the creation of gift registries (so the bride could choose her pattern and know all her silver would match) Because of this practice it is not unusual to find a service with odd numbers of basic items. If a bride received 7 forks for her wedding from 7 different people she might not have had the funds to complete the service. Also, there have been occasions when pieces became damaged (the famous fork bent when someone used it to open a jar), or lost (the child who "borrowed" a serving spoon to play in the yard...) which would have reduced the number to less than ideal.
In other cultures it was a practice for family members to give girls silver (starting at their birth) for birthdays and holidays expecting for her to have a basic service before her wedding. (“Gee, mom another spoon, what fun?” said the 11-year old girl on her birthday).
In more affluent circles a bride could expect her parents to give her a basic service for 8 as part of her wedding gifts. Often this basic service would also include what is called a hostess set containing a master butter, slotted serving spoon, cold meat fork, pie server and a pair of serving/table spoons. Family and friends would often add to the service with other pieces as they chose.
With the advent of plated flatware less affluent families might give a similar service in plated pieces with family members adding additional place setting or non-basic elements to the service. Knowing this, many plate manufacturers pre-packaged sets for sale as add-ons to the basic service, something I have yet to find occurring with sterling.
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