Customer Reviews

Savory Suppers and Fashionable Feasts: Dining in Victorian America

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I recently needed to help someone plan a formal tea party. Off I went to my collection of books on cookery. I had such a hard time putting it back. Of course, planning the menu for my friend was secondary. Each page is a delightful taste of time past by yet, helpful in gathering those cherished gifts from Victorian dining to add pleasure to our meals of the 90"s. Enjoy!

I have a longstanding interest in what might be called "domestic social history" of the 19th century -- how American and British households operated, what they ate and how, what were considered good manners, clothing customs, the functioning of the "servant class," and all of that. The author of this excellent work is Curator of Household Accessories and Tablewares at the Strong Museum in Rochester, one of the leading Victoriana museums in this country, and she certainly knows her subject. Per the title, she concentrates on the kitchen and dining room (with short excursions into the garden for tea and into city restaurants for special occasions), explaining where customs like placemats originated, detailing the astonishing amount of china and silverware thought necessary in a proper middle-class home, and analyzing the evolution of table manners over a period of three generations. Period illustrations are plentiful, as are quotations from 19th century sources (the bibliography runs to six pages) and menus from the social pages of the newspapers. There's also a lengthy collection of recipes of the time. If you want to pick up on what William Dean Howells was really talking about, read this book.