The Back of the Napkin

My family ate dinner together at the dining room table every single night growing up, even when my sister and I were in high school. The table was always set before the food was put down, with a folded paper napkin, a fork and a knife. The napkins were paper because, well, that's what we used. In the house, at the patio table during barbeques, at the annual Italian Picnic at Manning Park, napkins were paper. I don't remember the first time I encountered a cloth napkin, but I'm sure I was confused as to why anyone would use that and then throw them away.

Cloth napkins are the norm in our house now, with several different kinds just to mix it up. I still linger in the supermarket and look at the multitude of paper napkins and their various designs, wondering which my mother would pick out to grace her table. While the only constant is in the universe is change, a good paper napkin can take me back 50 or so years, hanging on a cart in a grocery store that no longer exists, watcing her survey the choices and picking the one that was just right.

This week, a look at the origins of the napkin.

TTFN, Fred.

Quote of the week: "The path to our destination is not always a straight one. We go down the wrong road, we get lost, we turn back. Maybe it doesn't matter which road we embark on. Maybe what matters is that we embark." - Barbara Hall, Northern Exposure, Rosebud, 1993

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