The butter knife has gone the way of the saucer. In the nursery rhyme “it’s the dish that ran away with the spoon,” but in this case it’s the knife that is gone and so is the saucer. The saucer is the plate that goes under a cup. Mugs have taken the place of the cup and so there is no need for the saucer.

The center of the saucer often contains a depression-sized circle to fit a cup; this depression is sometimes raised. The saucer is useful for protecting surfaces from possible damage due to the heat of a cup, and to catch overflow, splashes and drips from the cup, thus protecting both table linen and a user who holds both cup and saucer.

The saucer also provides a convenient place for a damp spoon, that might be used to stir the drink in the cup in order to mix sweeteners or creamers into tea or coffee. Some people pour the hot tea or coffee from the cup into the saucer; the increased surface area of the liquid exposed to the air increases the rate at which it cools, allowing the drinker to consume the beverage quickly after preparation. This was my grandfather. He always slurped his coffee from his saucer.

Moving on to the cruet. What? You don’t know what a cruet is? That’s because you don’t see them on many tables anymore. There was always a cruet on my mother’s dinner table. My grandfather was a fan of vinegar — someone once said it aids digestion. Maybe that’s why he used it with every meal.

A cruet is also called a castor. It is a small flat-bottomed bottle with a narrow neck. A caster set is a holder with a handle in the middle, which holds two or more bottles. Cruets often have a lip or spout and may also have a handle. Unlike a small carafe, a cruet has a stopper or lid. Cruets are normally made from glass.

Cruets range from plain decanters to the highly decorative cut crystal. Some cruets are unusual and can either be intended to be ornamental or functional. Cruets today typically serve a culinary function, holding liquid condiments such as olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Cruets also serve as decanters for lemon juice and other oils.

In America the silver-plated revolving castor was a table ornament in general use in the second half of the 19th Century. The rotary castor was patented in 1862. These condiment holders generally consisted of four bottles set in a base with either a pedestal or four feet, with an elaborate handle in the center. The bottles were of cut or pressed glass and some sets included a salt and pepper shaker. If you see one today it is very rare. I think by the end of the 1950s they had completely disappeared from the dinner table

Where is my butter knife? A butter knife is a small, dull knife with a rounded or pointed tip, used solely for slicing butter and spreading it on bread. Today, when a person buys a flatware set, it commonly comes with one such knife.

The point of the butter knife, which is often shared, is to avoid using a knife that was used to cut other food to slice pieces off butter. By offering a butter knife, diners can assure that really the only thing touching the knife besides the butter will be the bread people spread it on, or possibly corn on the cob and a few other things that are topped with butter.

In some cases, people merely use the butter knife to cut the butter they need, then they use their own knife to spread the butter on food. This gives the person more time to place butter on whatever food requires it without hogging the butter while using the knife.

The modern butter knife often looks very much like a regular flatware knife, but it is usually about half the size. It may feature either a pointed or rounded tip. Many people prefer the rounded tip style since this prevents the diner from accidentally spearing the bread he or she is buttering. One with a rounded tip may also be called a butter spreader.

To me, it looks nice on a formal table but in my house it is just another piece added to dishwashing. No butter knives on my table and I bet not on your table either.

 

Jo-Ann Boepple works at the Edwardsburg Area History Museum.