“Why so sad and solemncholy?” asked Somebody of the boy named
Billy.
“Mother sent me away from the table ’cause I took my pie up in
my fingers,” said Billy. “Grandfather said that fingers were
made before forks, but Mother said perhaps they were, but that
didn’t excuse me for forgetting my table manners. Who made forks,
anyhow? I _wish_ they _hadn’t_.”
“Well, Son,” said Somebody, “had you been born before the year
1600 it would have been quite correct for you to have eaten your
meat from your fingers. But it was terribly messy and there had
to be a servant called a ewer-bearer whose duty it was to pass
around a basin of water and a napkin with which to wash away
the stains of the food. But at last some bright Italian person
hit upon the idea of copying the large meat forks with which
the roast was handled, and making them small enough to be used
individually. Visitors to Italy were much interested in the fork.
“Many people thought it a useless invention and it was the middle
of the 17th century before the people of England consented to use
it. Queen Elizabeth was the first lady in England to own a fork,
and hers could not have been much good as a table implement, as
it was made of crystal, inlaid with gold and set with sparks of
garnets.
“The first forks were very small and narrow, with two prongs, but
after people got used to the idea they were made larger. Silver
knives and forks were first used in England in 1814 and could
only be afforded by the very wealthy.”
“That’s interesting,” said the boy named Billy. “I’m glad
I didn’t have to learn to eat peas with those funny little
two-tined forks. I guess I’ll go and beg mother’s pardon.”