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A Feast for the Eyes

Presented by San Bernardino County Museum at San Bernardino County Museum

March 1-October 26, 2008

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Tables, chairs, and linens. China, flatware, epergnes, and pickle forks. See the accoutrements of dining from the 1860s to the 1940s in “A Feast for the Eyes: dining in style,” at the San Bernardino County Museum in Redlands. This special exhibit, free with museum admission, continues through October 26. If you have ever wondered what to do with a celery vase, how a pickle castor works, or where the tradition of napkin rings came from, you won’t want to miss “A Feast for the Eyes.” Join us in the museum’s Hall of History to find out more about food preparation and dining between the 1860s and the 1940s and how this relates to the ways we eat today. Perhaps you enjoy using decorative napkin rings on your dining table. In the past, people used personalized or distinctive napkin rings so they could use the same one at each meal, since napkins were laundered infrequently. Do you host Super Bowl parties with a special “game day” menu featuring Buffalo wings or chili? Perhaps you serve a favorite type of finger food when it is your turn to have the Poker or Bunko group at your house. In the 1920s and 1930s, Mahjong and card parties were all the rage. Hosts used table linens and set out special dishes for foods players could snack on in the heat of the game. Serving and eating utensils have changed, too. In the 1880s, you might have needed a map to find your way around a dining table set for a special occasion and then directions to figure out how to use all of the equipment found there, including a multitude of serving dishes and a plethora of forks. People of means often had household help who cooked and even served the food and did the washing up afterward. By the early 1900s and on into the 1920s, simple, classic, modern design was the trend, making all of the frippery of the last century obsolete. Technological breakthroughs made meal preparation and service easier, as food trends and tastes changed with the times. During World War II, commodity shortages and rationing programs encouraged the creative use of available foods, and was an opportunity for processed food companies to promote their products. Mock apple pie made from Ritz crackers may not have tasted like the real thing, but people did their part for the war effort and tried new and innovative recipes. Folks living in urban or suburban areas who did not normally grow their own produce used whatever soil was available and planted Victory Gardens, integrating what they grew into their daily diets, and preserving or trading the excess. As we think about how people ate in the past and how we eat today, table manners and even table setting customs come to mind. Have you ever wondered why it is so terrible to put your elbows on the table, or where the idea of passing food to the right came from? Down through the years, there have been plenty of “table etiquette experts” who have influenced behavior in relation to eating. In the past, not only were certain behaviors taboo at the table, but even certain topics of discussion came under fire! Visit “A Feast for the Eyes” to find more, and to see how your table manners stack up.