Period Celery makes a "handsome table ornament" ?!?

lupaglupa

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Or so says this writer at the Olympia, Washington, Pioneer and Democrat, February 8, 1861 -

"There are but few farmers who attempt to grow celery, yet it is not a difficult matter; and it is an excellent vegetable, not only as a sort of condiment, like pickle, coleslaw, &c., but it is nourishing food. And every farmer's wife who has a taste for setting a handsome table, either for her own family or when she has company, will always be glad to have a handsome dish of celery as a table ornament, if it is not touched as food."

I love celery but it seems I'm not in a big group. Newspapers from the CW era have lots of advice for growing celery but little for cooking with it. I did find one very good sounding recipe in the Lewistown, PA, Gazette (February 3, 1864)

To Dress Celery - Beat up well one yolk of egg; add two tablespoonfuls of cream, one of white sugar, three of vinegar, a teaspoonful of olive oil, one of made mustard, and a pinch of salt. Cut the celery into bits and add the rest.
 
What I'm about to say might be a bit early for the times but it was just starting to come in. Celery (which I really like too) and asparagus and then white asparagus was especially the bee's knees for making a decorative table. There were celery and asparagus holders for the fine dining table.
 

I'm paranoid now about including photos, but here is a link to celery vases or glasses on etsy. Some are very reasonable to buy and some are in the hundreds to buy. It was a fad like avocado toast is now.


and here are the asparagus (and celery too) dishes. The absolute height of fashion was the white asparagus which you can still get here in sometimes.
 

I'm paranoid now about including photos, but here is a link to celery vases or glasses on etsy. Some are very reasonable to buy and some are in the hundreds to buy. It was a fad like avocado toast is now.


and here are the asparagus (and celery too) dishes. The absolute height of fashion was the white asparagus which you can still get here in sometimes.
I've seen celery dishes, which absolutely make sense for the shape of celery. Celery vases is a new one!

But then in the Victorian era there were so many specialized items for the table - not only serving dishes but silverware for every possible dish - serving and eating. I can't imagine where they stored all that stuff.
 
Celery as a table decoration reminds me of a long ago comical event. The restaurant where we had a company Christmas Party had celery in vases of water on the table. Bill, a late very good friend had consumed one to many drinks. He proceeded to take the celery stalk from the water and blessed all at the table. A simple little even that none of us will never forget.
 
Celery as a table decoration reminds me of a long ago comical event. The restaurant where we had a company Christmas Party had celery in vases of water on the table. Bill, a late very good friend had consumed one to many drinks. He proceeded to take the celery stalk from the water and blessed all at the table. A simple little even that none of us will never forget.
Oh my!
 
The absolute height of fashion was the white asparagus which you can still get here in sometimes.

It intrigues me now many "fancy dishes" there are that are much lower in nutrients than the peasant version, and white asparagus is a classic example. White asparagus is green asparagus that hasn't gotten any sun (the grower buries it in dirt and plastic), meaning it's shorter and fatter and has no chlorophyll. It's also more mildly flavored, but I love the flavor of the green stuff so that's not much of a selling point with me. I would like to try one of the purple varieties sometime, though; pretty sure they're available at our farmer's market but I never remember to get there when they're harvesting!

But then in the Victorian era there were so many specialized items for the table - not only serving dishes but silverware for every possible dish - serving and eating. I can't imagine where they stored all that stuff.

I'm pretty sure the latest thing then was the same as the latest thing now -- for most people, it was as much about showing off money and prestige as anything, by being to afford the gadget in the first place, and having a place to put it in the second! We think of the Victorians as far more hung up on status than we are, but I was shocked to read Miss Manners' book on childrearing (first published 1985), because she is absolutely upfront about teaching your kids good manners by telling them that "the best people do this" and otherwise appealing directly to their pride of status! Going on the etiquette books I have read, Victorians were much more subtle about it.

Although I also think some of the fancy dishes and gadgets were marketing ploys as much as anything, and probably didn't saturate the population nearly so deeply as some of the ladies' magazines of the time might imply. Going on the magazines of the time, fondue was all the rage in the 1960s, but I didn't know anyone who had a fondue pot and used it (I knew a couple of people who'd been gifted with one, though). I have a couple of fondue pots, but we only use the forks, and don't serve it at parties, because with my chow hounds, once you get past four people per pot, it's a pain.

I was watching a Karolina Żebrowska video on Victorian fashions yesterday, and in the comments they got to talking about how in the 1680s, 1880s, and 1980s fashion dictated "fluffy awkward bangs" (while the 1780s had "puffy curly hair "), and I have noticed some food fads repeat as well, but I wonder if they do so in a semi-predictable pattern that way.
 
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