Re: Eating with Knives - a Bad Habit?
Hallo!
"It was not always thus."
As shared...
America had been established before the rise of the use of the fork took off in England.
As a result, "Americans" evolved down a different path than the English, Germans, French, Italians, etc. when it came to dinner flatware.
Then again, how meals were presented and eaten shifted at the time of the CW away from the older "service à la française" to the newer "service à la russe."
Socio-economic factors aside, and in the "starts, stops, and fits" of how
cultural norms trickly down the ladder and get to different regions and communities over time as the generations change...
The Americans went to a one handed method of eating that continued to rely on the fork as the utensil of choice rather than on the previous spoon and knife.
"The knife is held in the right hand and the fork in the left. Holding food to the plate with the fork tines-down, a single bite-sized piece is cut with the knife. Never cut more than one piece at a time. The knife is then placed on the right edge of the plate (always with the blade facing inward) and the fork transferred to the right hand, with the left hand falling to the lap. The cut piece is then speared (if not already during the cut) or scooped and eaten using the fork in a tines-up orientation. The fork is held in the right hand or put down on the plate while chewing. The fork is then transferred back into the left hand, the right hand picks up the knife, and the process is repeated as necessary. A left-handed consumer can retain the fork in the stronger hand, although the knife is still released. While the position of the hand does not matter as it is placed on the fork while doing so, this is not considered completely proper."
However, contrast that with the European (Continental) style:
"The European manner is to hold the knife and fork, in the right and left hands respectively, throughout consumption. The hand grasp is also different: in Europe it is considered better manners not to hold a knife or fork as one would hold a pen, but to have the handle running along the palm and extending out to be held by thumb and forefinger. This style is sometimes called 'hidden handle'. This method is also common in Canada and other former parts of the British Empire. In contrast to the American method of using a fork much like a spoon (tines up), the British primarily use the fork with tines facing away from the user (tines down)."
All in all, because meal presentation and table settings were changing at the time of the CW, AND the use of utensils was slowly changing- how "hip" a soldier was to the latest fashion and etiquette would have been a socio-economic class, region or area, urban or rural, and how he was brought up (with a nod toward personal preferences).
IMHO, books of etiquette and instruction at the time of the CW and Post War harp on utensil use is because of the introduction of change and the slowness of people changing their customs and practices. ;) :)
A good discussion this, as these things are all layers to one's impression and
Believeable Image.
Unrelated, in the Modern World, spending time in different countries I adapt to the "English" or "German" use of utensils and usually can always "spot" the Americans at restaurants or dinner tables. (The same for Americans portraying WWI or WWII Germans.) ;) :)
Curt
Hallo!
"It was not always thus."
As shared...
America had been established before the rise of the use of the fork took off in England.
As a result, "Americans" evolved down a different path than the English, Germans, French, Italians, etc. when it came to dinner flatware.
Then again, how meals were presented and eaten shifted at the time of the CW away from the older "service à la française" to the newer "service à la russe."
Socio-economic factors aside, and in the "starts, stops, and fits" of how
cultural norms trickly down the ladder and get to different regions and communities over time as the generations change...
The Americans went to a one handed method of eating that continued to rely on the fork as the utensil of choice rather than on the previous spoon and knife.
"The knife is held in the right hand and the fork in the left. Holding food to the plate with the fork tines-down, a single bite-sized piece is cut with the knife. Never cut more than one piece at a time. The knife is then placed on the right edge of the plate (always with the blade facing inward) and the fork transferred to the right hand, with the left hand falling to the lap. The cut piece is then speared (if not already during the cut) or scooped and eaten using the fork in a tines-up orientation. The fork is held in the right hand or put down on the plate while chewing. The fork is then transferred back into the left hand, the right hand picks up the knife, and the process is repeated as necessary. A left-handed consumer can retain the fork in the stronger hand, although the knife is still released. While the position of the hand does not matter as it is placed on the fork while doing so, this is not considered completely proper."
However, contrast that with the European (Continental) style:
"The European manner is to hold the knife and fork, in the right and left hands respectively, throughout consumption. The hand grasp is also different: in Europe it is considered better manners not to hold a knife or fork as one would hold a pen, but to have the handle running along the palm and extending out to be held by thumb and forefinger. This style is sometimes called 'hidden handle'. This method is also common in Canada and other former parts of the British Empire. In contrast to the American method of using a fork much like a spoon (tines up), the British primarily use the fork with tines facing away from the user (tines down)."
All in all, because meal presentation and table settings were changing at the time of the CW, AND the use of utensils was slowly changing- how "hip" a soldier was to the latest fashion and etiquette would have been a socio-economic class, region or area, urban or rural, and how he was brought up (with a nod toward personal preferences).
IMHO, books of etiquette and instruction at the time of the CW and Post War harp on utensil use is because of the introduction of change and the slowness of people changing their customs and practices. ;) :)
A good discussion this, as these things are all layers to one's impression and
Believeable Image.
Unrelated, in the Modern World, spending time in different countries I adapt to the "English" or "German" use of utensils and usually can always "spot" the Americans at restaurants or dinner tables. (The same for Americans portraying WWI or WWII Germans.) ;) :)
Curt
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