Democratic Sentinel, Volume 7, Number 23, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 July 1883 — Napkins. [ARTICLE]

Napkins.

Napkins are interpreted by a Boston Courier writer as indexes of locality. The Bostonian uses his vigorously. It is spotless, but much rumpled at the end of a dinner. His energy has constantly drawn it across the width of his mouth, and has laid it on the table with a parting crush. The New Yorker’s napkin bears signs of use otherwise than in its folds. It has a central indentation made by the thumb and fore-finger as it has been thrust against the front of the lips, and is thrown carelessly on the chair at the end of a repast. The Westerner’s napkin, as broadly spread under his chin, preserves its original smoothness and lines of folding, though otherwise it shows how necessary has been its application to the waistcoat. The Southerner often dispenses with his, for, though placed in his lap in its square or triangular outlines, it there remains. Both Westerner and Southerner show their appreciation of home training and the laundry exigencies by folding their napkins and placing them on the table