the lost art of the cloth napkin
make dining romantic again
Growing up — At my grandparent’s house, cloth napkins were brought out for holidays. But, holidays only. Special occasions meant special napkins. I always enjoyed them as a child and felt they brought a certain feeling with them to the table. But why was dining on a holiday meant to have more feeling than a Tuesday 5 o’ clock dinner? Tuesday is quite the occasion in my eyes and lucky for us, it comes every week.
Why have we settled for disposable napkins in the form of paper or, even worse, paper towel as the desired and standard table napkin? I write this without judgement because I too have been using paper towel as a napkin for myself and my family at meal times. And for a time now, it has afflicted me.
This is a case for the cloth napkin. Bring them back and make dining romantic again. All meals are worthy of being honored with feeling and intention. The dining room in itself is dying — And this deeply saddens my Irish heart. I believe we could begin to revive the dining room by adorning our tables with cloth and candle. Make dinner a devotion. There is no time to waste when it comes to cherishing our time with our family. Our friends. I understand dinner may be leftovers and the high chair is still covered in breakfast but the time gathered around the table together is worthy. We don’t have to wait until Christmas to nourish our conversations and admire the occasion of eating together. It’s Tuesday — Let’s love our time with each other now and nurture it to its fullest. Dab your chin with cloth instead.
For less than twenty-five cents each — I purchased twenty cloth napkins at an estate sale. In my quest for cloth napkins, I had been hesitant to pull the trigger on buying them new. Sixty dollars for a set of four linen napkins from Williams-Sonoma was a tough pill for me to swallow. I wanted them to be natural fiber like cotton or linen and preferably vintage. With this in mind, you can imagine the scene of a young woman at an estate sale doing a quiet jig in red ballet flats over a box of old fabric that no one else seemed to care about, much less notice. I left the sale beaming, clutching my cloth napkins closely to my chest as I walked past everyone else guarding the furniture they had selected to take home. I felt like I had found buried treasure, truly. The search had ended — I was now the proud owner of a big ol’ handful of vintage linen napkins. Bliss.
My table will now be adorned with cloth that will be used and washed then used and washed again. For years. And something about that brings much joy and peace to me. Will I find paper towel napkins barbaric now? Probably. Once you have breakfast or a two o’clock snack with cloth, you’re officially a cloth napkin highbrow. Once you begin to romance every nook and corner of your daily life, it’s hard to go back. It’s only forward from here.
There is more laundry, yes. But is loveliness worth fighting for? Certainly. The food tastes better when you make it intentional. If your have the opportunity to make your meal times and table more purposeful and deliberate, it will only benefit you and your family. Coming together around food is essential for our souls. In 2018, there was a study that one out of three Americans cannot eat a meal without being on their phone. This should frighten you like a horror film because we’re living in one. We’re starving ourselves of true nourishment while sitting at the table. If you’re on your phone, you’re not tasting your food let alone enjoying anyone around you. Even if you’re alone — You deserve a quiet moment with yourself to relish in one of your six senses. Don’t tell me you’re anxious if you’re eating breakfast while scrolling on X (Twitter). Not to take a detour, as this is a case for cloth napkins, but if you need to learn to put your phone away at meal times before you ditch paper towel, by all means dab with paper towel. If you’re on your phone, you wouldn’t notice the cloth anyways.
I love every bit of this piece✨ I have four young kids, but we use my great grandmas blue willow for weeknight dinner just the same. It’s ordinary and magical.
I purchased cloth napkins at a little thrift store when I lived in Florida. It was a set of two. White linen with a beige trim and cobalt blue embroidered flower in one corner. Despite not being complete, I bought the set anyway. A few weeks later I found the mates across town at an antique shop. Meant to be! I love them. They’re used daily.