Expe­ri­enc­ing the charms of an old-world table set­ting for Thanks­giv­ing is some­thing Amer­i­cans are about to redis­cover, just for the hol­i­day joy of it!  With the intent of fos­ter­ing greater Thanks­giv­ing his­tory appre­ci­a­tion, the time trav­el­ing folks at LetsPlayHistory.org  are show­ing Amer­ica just how easy it really is to pull together a prim­i­tive table rem­i­nis­cent of, if not authen­tic to, 1621 New England.

The fol­low­ing 7 Table-Setting Steps will walk you through the basics of re-creating period ambiance through both Eng­lish and Native Wampanoag place set­tings.  These steps are taken from the com­plete living-history how-to guide, The Amer­i­can Patriot’s Trea­sury of Thanks­giv­ing Din­ner Ideas:  Old-World Table Set­tings, Recipes, Games, Hand Crafts, and Party Ideas for Cul­tural Enrich­ment and Pleasure. 

Step 1:  Make your own table cover and serviettes

The most authen­tic fab­ric choice for the 1621 table is linen, with white being far and away the most pop­u­lar color choice of the time period.  Nat­ural col­ors were also used, how­ever, as was cot­ton fab­ric.  What­ever your pref­er­ence, buy enough fab­ric to cover your table, and cal­cu­late yardage for servi­ettes based on width of fab­ric and size desired (there was no stan­dard:  servi­ettes are described as being “bath towel-sized,” and could have been either rec­tan­gu­lar or square).  Cut all pieces out on the grain, then hand fin­ish the edges with cot­ton thread for the great­est authen­tic­ity, or machine fin­ish all edges.  For more details on mak­ing servi­ettes see the link fol­low­ing this article.

Step 2:  Buy your wood bowls or plates

Wood bowls and plates are fairly easy to find new in today’s mar­ket.  Sim­ply search online using “Wood Plates” as your search terms, and you’ll have plenty of providers to choose from.  In the LPH guide you will find resources for learn­ing how to turn your own plates, or for buy­ing unfin­ished plates and fin­ish­ing them in period authen­tic fash­ion.  A nar­row brim plate increases the style authen­tic­ity for the time period.

Step 3:  Shop for metal mugs

Repro­duc­tion pewter mugs are the hard­est table item to find, whether new or used.  Even find­ing rea­son­ably priced steel, tin, or alu­minum mugs can prove a chal­lenge.  Try shop­ping sec­ond hand stores, eBay, out­door out­fit­ters, and flea mar­kets.  To relieve stress, be resigned to hav­ing mis­matched, less-authentic mugs the first year, and go with what­ever you can find.  Then join in the whole­sale pur­chas­ing co-op at LetsPlayHistory.org for new, lead-free sets of 8 repro­duc­tion mugs (and other pewter items). 

Step 4:  Omit your forks, and add proper spoons and knives

As of 1621, the Eng­lish still thought forks sin­fully effem­i­nate, and they wouldn’t use them.  Instead, their pointed, straight-edge knives were used like the fork is used today.  Addi­tion­ally, the pointed knife tip was nec­es­sary for dip­ping salt.  Pewter spoons are another item very dif­fi­cult to find, but authen­tic alter­na­tives would include hand carved wood or bone spoons.

Step 5:  Add a salt dip

Pewter salt dips are the eas­i­est of the pewter items to find, at least in used con­di­tion.  They mea­sured roughly 3 to 4-inches across the mouth, and were set out in the cen­ter of the table to be used com­mu­nally.  A small wood bowl of sim­i­lar dimen­sions also fits the bill for period authen­tic­ity, though it wouldn’t have been as com­mon among the mid­dle class Mayflower pilgrims. 

Step 6:  Cre­ate an optional Wampanoag place setting

If you would like to stir everyone’s delight, add a plau­si­ble Wampanoag place set­ting to your Thanks­giv­ing table.  Prim­i­tive hand carved bowls and spoons are an authen­tic option.  Inverted tur­tle shells are a favorite in the­ory, how­ever be aware that real tur­tle shells pose cer­tain health risks.  For imi­ta­tion tur­tle shells join the whole­sale pur­chas­ing co-op at LetsPlayHistory.org.  As for Native knives, flint knives are the only authen­tic choice, as in 1621 the Native Peo­ples were not yet using steel objects.  Many tribes across Amer­ica still make flint knives, and a num­ber of crafts­men sell on eBay.  Pur­chas­ing infor­ma­tion, as well as resources for learn­ing how to make your own flint knives, are found in the LPH guide.

Step 7:  Add optional dec­o­ra­tions, music, prayers

If you really want to “wow” your guests, enhance the old-world ambiance with hand made period décor items, tra­di­tional Eng­lish or Wampanoag music, and offer Native prayers, as well as Eng­lish prayers spo­ken in the archaic King James ver­nac­u­lar (a poten­tially humor­ous endeavor, indeed!).  You could also intro­duce a period card game, or other activ­ity while you wait for the turkey to cook.  The pos­si­bil­i­ties are end­less.  See the LPH guide for many more early New Eng­land suggestions.

Tagged as: American, Dinner, English, Ideas, Native, Setting, table, Thanksgiving