Baker's peels and huge hoop skirts - George Cruikshank sketch 1850

In 1850 the dresses had become so large that the gentlemen had to serve the wine or jelly on a baker's peel... according to satirist George Cruikshank.


“...The supper room on the night of a ‘grand spread’ will be a curious place. There the gentlemen will stand, armed each with a long baker’s peel with which to hand the ladies their refreshments. The greatest nicety, however, will be required in presenting a trifle, a glass of wine, or a jelly by these means, lest the whole be deposited in the fair creature’s lap.”
George Cruikshank’s “A Splendid Spread” in Comic Almanac 1850

The large hoop skirts or cage crinoline caused a distance problem that the creative Cruikshank solved with humor. I love the peel and the work of Cruikshank, so I put it on my old blog in 2007.

UPCOMING TALKS

Dec 11 Mon 7 A History of the World in 10 Dinners: 2,000 Years, 100 Recipes. Jay Reifel author. Culinary Historians of Chicago HERE. TAPE HERE

Dec 12 Tue 8 All Roads Lead to the City: The Spice Roads of the Byzantine Empire. Diane Kochilas. Spice month talk. National Hellenic Museum. HERE. TAPE may be HERE. Dec talk Mastic: The Queen of Spices. TAPE HERE

Dec 13 Wed 1 Anecdotes from the Archive including festive recollections of Christmas-time at Royal Worcester. Julia Letts. Museum of Royal Worcester UK HERE TAPE may be HERE

Dec 14 Thu 8-8:45AM Revisualising Colonial Past in John Smith's Generall Historie of Virginia. Dr Rachel Winchcombe. John Rylands Research Institute and Library UK HERE

Dec 14 Thu 12:30 Recipes of Gendered Entanglements: Culinary Transformations in Princely Rampur. “Rampur...1774 evolved as a cultural centre of north Indian Muslim culture. An important aspect of this cultural transformation was the curation of a ‘haute’ cuisine…” Tarana Husain Khan. Food History Seminar IHR HERE

Dec 14 Thur 2:30-3:45 The Welsh Community in Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, circa 1860-1914 “which attracted hundreds of Welsh colliers as it grew as a coal mining town.” Glamorgan Family History Society HERE

Dec 14 Thu 5:30 Uncovering America's Victorian Era Holiday Celebrations. Becky Libourel Diamond. New York Adventure Club $10 tape one week HERE

Dec 18 Mon 1 Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (and other deer) of the European Ice Age. “their distributions, diet, and how they were used by humans.” Dr Angharad Jones. Creswell Crags. Donation HERE

Dec 21 Thu 4 Trade Lists. When Two Worlds Met book series. Gail White Usher, Conversation Club. Stanley-Whitman House. CT HERE

Dec 24 Sun 11AM Jane Austen Mince Pie Bake-a-Long. “A Christmas Mince Pie class held online on Christmas Eve. Bake-Along or watch and enjoy the food & history.” Paul Couchman - The Regency Cook £20 HERE


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