Do You Have A Complete Place Setting?

Getting married today is pretty much as it has always been.  Engagement party, showers and registering are all part of the experience.  Men and women often register for everyday dishes and fine china.  A place setting of china today usually consists of the following pieces:  dinner plate, salad plate, butter plate cup and saucer and soup bowl.  Additionally, things pieces like gravy bowl, sugar and creamer and serving dishes can be bought.

Years ago, my mom bought a set of 12 place settings of Royal Copenhagen, Blue Rose pattern.  She is cleaning out cupboards, trying to give away items she no longer uses.  I was with her in October, and she showed me the china, asking me if I wanted it.  She showed me a place setting far different than what current companies are producing.  The picture here shows only the plates  that are part of Blue Rose pattern.  The plates include the following:  dinner plate, salad place, butter plate, two types of soup bowls (one with handles, one without), cup and saucer, ASH TRAY and CIGARETTE HOLDER.  Can you imagine seeing these items in a place setting today?  Other pieces in the pattern include a coffee server, salt and pepper shakers, gravy bowl and serving pieces.

What struck me most was two things.  1.  In over 50 years, my mom still has every single piece of china, and she uses the china often, some pieces, like salad plates, almost daily.  2.  Ash trays and cigarette holders, I can't even imagine.  Years ago, a dinner party would include cigarettes on the table at each place, and an ash tray for every person.  I'm taking some of the china, not all of it, and here's what I plan to do.  I will repurpose the ash tray and cigarette holders.  The ash tray will become a plate for wasabi and soy sauce when serving sushi, and the cigarette holders will become cups for saki.  Pretty clever?  I thought so.  Now, all I have to do is have a sushi part, and use the new china. (The ash tray is on the right, below the salad plate, and cigarette holder is on the bottom right.