Tuesday, August 28, 2007

1938 Kitchen Quiz Answers

I'm glad that you enjoyed taking a look at my 1938 Foods and Home Making book. Thank you for your wonderful comments and for joining in for the quiz!



Here are the questions again, with the answers below:

Question: If you are sent to market to buy tea for the older members of your family, who prefer the beverage served with cream, what kind of tea leaves would you buy?

Answer: The two most popular types of tea are black and green. Black tea leaves are fermented before drying. Well-known black teas are Flowery Pekoe, Orange, Pekoe, and English Breakfast. Darjeeling is a fine black tea grown in India. Green tea leaves are dried without first fermenting. Gunpowder, Imperial, and Young Hyson are popular green teas. Those who are particular about the flavor of tea think that only black teas, especially those produced in India, are suitable to serve with cream.

Question: What is a silence cloth?

Answer: The clatter of dishes is usually not pleasant. To make the placing of a dish on the table noiseless, the table may be covered first with a soft, heavy cloth known as a silence cloth or padding. There are materials which are made especially for silence cloths. Heavy cotton cloth which is fleeced on both sides is often used. Sometimes silence cloths are made of quilted material. Asbestos (Yikes!) is used also as table padding. Flannelette is not so heavy as the materials just mentioned, but it is inexpensive and may be bought not only in white but in dark-wood colors. A silence cloth not only deadens the sound of dishes but protects the table. The appearance of a table is usually improved by a silence cloth. It makes the table linen appear heavier and helps keep the linen flat on the table.

Question: Suppose that you are having a meal at a friend's home. On the table near your cover is a dish of preserves; there is a spoon on the table beside the preserves. Suppose the hostess says: "Mary, will you please start passing the preserves?" What will you do with the spoon beside the preserves? Will you help yourself first? To whom will you pass the preserves?

I am having a hard time finding the exact answer to this question. It was asked in the "Breakfast Unit" in the chapter called "Good Manners at the Dining Table." I have read the chapter over and over again and don't see a single mention about preserves and spoons. It's driving me crazy! I will have Phillip look at it tonight in case I am missing it. I did read several times throughout the book, that foods should always be passed to the left of each person. I'm pretty sure we pass things to the right at our house though. Hmmm....

Question: How high should a work table be? Give a reason for your answer.

Answer: No one can do work well in an uncomfortable position. No one likes to do work that makes the back ache. To find the proper working height for a table stand straight and hold the upper part of the arm close to the body. Then bend the arms at the elbow. The distance from the floor to the elbow minus two inches gives the proper working height. Of course, if several persons work at the same table, the height of the table should be determined by the height of the average person.

Question: How thick are the walls of a refrigerator?

Answer:
In many climates, refrigerators are needed only in summer. Refrigerators are necessary when the air is warm enough to cause foods to spoil readily. A refrigerator is well built when the warm air cannot penetrate into its inner walls. Several thicknesses of different kinds of material are used for the walls of a refrigerator. The insulating material should be at least two inches thick.

Your homework for today will be to check your refrigerator walls! Are they at least 2 inches thick? ;0)

I would be happy to post another kitchen quiz sometime in the future!

33 comments:

Lori said...

Thanks for sharing the answers with us. Those were all intersting to learn.

Christie Belle said...

Oh, how neat this was, and informative for me! I was looking back at your show and tell this past Friday, and those dolls are just precious, and I know they are so meaningful to you. I love that you hide them from your sister, it sounds like something I would do to my sister. LOL, I really need to share some of our growing up sister, I was the epitomy of what an older sister is, lol. Your grandmother was so thoughtful and sweet to make something so detailed as these dolls with quilts, outfits, and winter wear:)

Hootin Anni said...

Very interesting!! Thanks for the education. I'd say put the spoon in the preserves and pass it to your right. Thus starting the 'procession' of getting it around the table to the hostess, and beyond.

YES. I like the idea of having another quiz...but please inform us of when you've posted.

Susan said...

Thanks for taking one of my balloons!!!!
Susan

homespun living said...

What a great find Kelli! How fun to read the quiz answers :)
Debbie

retha said...

2 inches, I will have to first go and see how many centimeters that will be.
I know the milk stay cold and usable for some time.
A certain store's lettuces stay 'well' for weeks, so our fridge walls are probably 2 inches.

That was an interesting read. I was just asking today, how to decide how high a kitchen counter must be!

Sharon said...

I enjoyed the tea questions and answers and I learned a few things...........thanks for sharing with us.

Debbie said...

Oh, I enjoyed this. I am sorry that I missed the quiz debut.
I found an old book the other night (not as old as yours) and thought about posting some things from it. It is about fathers and pregnancy. I think I will......

Kari (GrannySkywalker) said...

That was fascinating! I love trivia like that. My mom has a "silence cloth". I would love to have one myself. And now that I know what to call it, maybe I will. lol I just thought it was something my grandma had given to my mom - I didn't realize that it actually had a name! See? You learn something new every day, huh?

Melissa said...

Wow! How fun! I love the pictures of the pages. I can actually read them, and want to read more! It is so interesting. I can't believe the rat pictures lol, but it's very blunt about healthy food and non-healthy food, and perhaps children need that blunt truth. :D

Mimi said...

fun quiz... I'm glad you shared the answers... I missed more that I thought I would...

... said...

very interesting. i think my grandmother used to use a silence cloth. so much we can learn from previous generations.

Anonymous said...

The quiz was fun!

Paula said...

How fun! I love reading about historical customs. Some we've kept, some we've pushed to the side!!
Paula

Mary L. Briggs said...

I've enjoyed this post, Kelli! I love old books like this--the one I have says a lady should ALWAYS wear heels when doing housework--low ones, but heels, no flats! Which I'm sure rules out tennis shoes and flip-flops!

Rowan said...

I can help with the preserves and spoons things - preserves are served at table in a preserve dish (usually glass)accompanied by a spoon. Each person spoons the amount of preserve they require onto their side plate rather than putting it directly onto the toast or roll or whatever. The spoon remains with the preserve dish as it is passed round. I wondered about the dorection to pass in - I know that port is always passed to the left after dinner but it seems more natural to me to pass to the right. I think it's to do with passing thigs clockwise rather than anti-clockwise.

Rowan said...

I see two typing errors now, I wish there was an edit button these comment spaces. If I'm typing quickly I often hit the wrong key and don't realise until it's too late!

Britta said...

I can remember when my grandmother was still alive that she showed me an very old cooking book she got from her grandmother. I wonder where this book is...maybe it's in the attic at my parents house. I loved it when my grandmother showed me the recipes with all these nice little painted pictures of food in it.
Have a nice day, Britta

Marci said...

I had no idea you were SO smart Kelli!!! =) I did not do too well on that quiz.

Unknown said...

Who knew? I'll have to get out my measuring tape.

Christine said...

How fun, Kelli!

LadySnow said...

You know what.....I think I might have that book. ...I will have to go look now. ;)

Melissa E. said...

My guess for the question about passing the preserves it that you would pass to the person next to you. It may be appropriate to serve yourself first since the hostess wouldn't presume upon you to have to wait until last. The spoon, if used would be passed in the preserves and if not used would be handed in such a way that only the handle is touched by both the passer and the receiver.
And as Rowan has said, the preserves would only be put at the edge of your plate directly from the bowl. Same with butter.

Tammy said...

This was so fun, Kelli! :D I just love, love old books like this!

(And asbestos! Double Yikes!)

Karen said...

Well, I should have known what a silence cloth is! My grandmother kept one on her dining table all the time!
This was fun, and informative! Thanks Kelli.

Carole Burant said...

What an interesting post! I have a hard enough time knowing which fork to use when there's 3 of them on the left hand side of my plate, without having to worry about the preserve spoon and which direction to pass it on to! LOL My refrigerator walls are 1 1/4" thick...I guess they've gotten thinner since that book was written! lol

Sandra said...

Loved this quiz Kelly.....btw I did check my refrigerator walls LOL

Can't wait for another quiz :)

Hugs,
Sandra

Tammy said...

I enjoyed reading the answers!
:)

Irene said...

I knew the answer to the tea question. But the silence cloth was really puzzling. Thank you for sharing with us this little treasure. Please stop by my place and pick a little award.
Blessings,
Irene
The Green Greek

Jodi said...

Oh, very fun to read, Kelli! I didn't know what a silence cloth was, but my mom used to keep a padded cloth under her tablecloth. I always thought its primary purpose was to protect the table! So interesting.

Jenn4Him said...

I love it! Just think how wasteful we are to have a refrigerator year round!

theups said...

I LOVE your book, Kelli! I'm going to be keeping an eye out for a copy for myself. How interesting!

And I LOVE the quiz!! The only question I got correct was black tea. HAHA! That's only because I guessed! :)

This was fun! Thank you for taking the time to share!!

His,
Mrs. U

Rosa said...

What a delightful book. Fascinating! Love the asbestos table lining. hehe. What a hoot!