Feeding Frenzy

By FCM

October 13, 2008 10:34 AM | Link to this

My best friend is an only child of 2 only children which were ‘only grandchildren’. Thus his mother inherited 4 different good dish place settings (for 12 each). Plus she had 2 of her own. That’s 72 good place settings plus serving pieces!

When I was registering, she told me about this. She said that yes, good china is ‘good stuff’ don’t put it at the children’s table. However, don’t lock it up either. It’s only really good if there are memories around it. It is meant to be used and enjoyed.

Another good friend of the family is an Army wife. She has been stationed in many places. Inevitably some stuff would break. She shared with me to get a place setting or 2 of several patterns I like and make an ecletic table….She does this with wine glasses. I do it with wine glasses to. I have no more than 2 matching wine glasses…plus then we don’t have to mark the glasses at parties.

You have ‘older’ sons. It is time to get those good dishes out and teach them how to eat off them. When the bring home a girl, use it then. Show them how to enjoy the nice things.

Thanks for the column. My children are a good bit younger than yours. However, I think it is time to let them try out the good plates.

By Amy

October 13, 2008 12:36 PM | Link to this

It’s funny - I’ve had both schools of thought - I have never wanted to value things so much that I wouldn’t use them. However, my china is sentimental - it was my mom’s and she died when I was a teenager. So I don’t want it broken carelessly now. We use it for holidays and when family visits. That’s about it.

By jct

October 13, 2008 3:18 PM | Link to this

I have inherited 5 sets of china so I have never gotten my own. I started using the china to make regular dinner more special. Most times, we eat on the fly (son is 17). Using the china slows us down. It makes us eat at the table. With this many sets, even if something breaks it will be a long time before I run out of plates (sigh).

By AmyH

October 13, 2008 3:39 PM | Link to this

I love my china. I create reasons to use it. With the help of Ebay, I have collected 16 place settings. And since it is not used everyday, I have no problems putting it or my fine silver in the dishwasher.

By toni

October 13, 2008 3:46 PM | Link to this

You cant take it with you so use it. My thought is that if I die before my husband he may remarry and his new wife will be using the things I held as special. Im using every thing I have first and as often as I can

By scrappy

October 13, 2008 4:09 PM | Link to this

great column… I just got married and now have 13 place setting of China, still in the box. (hey, it has only been 3 weeks!) I am thinking of having a dinner party (all adults) to make me get them out of the boxes and start using them.

By Ms Jan

October 13, 2008 4:12 PM | Link to this

Toni - that was priceless!

By Becky

October 13, 2008 4:21 PM | Link to this

I don’t have fine china..I don’t want dishes that I have to worry about..Plus, I don’t have space to store them..So to all that have them, enjoy them…

By amy

October 13, 2008 4:44 PM | Link to this

I have exactly 12 place settings of china I got 5 years ago when we got married. I Have used them maybe 3 times. I need to use them more though. Even more than “fine china” I enjoy buying eclectic plates at yard sales/goodwill/marshalls/tjmaxx etc.-and using them everyday and switching them up a bit-they don’t cost a lot, and I get variety. I recently purchased a real cute plate from goodwill from 1973 (date is on the back)-with little caracters on them -a mom kissing a little kid, and a saying about “Mothers make a happy home”-which I plan to give to my mother as a gift to display in her kitchen if she likes, it’s cute, and only $1.00.

By MaggiesDad

October 13, 2008 4:52 PM | Link to this

I use to be like that…the good stuff stayed in the china cabinet for special occasions, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter. Then I realized that every day is special and why not use them any time, all the time, whenever…so I sold my every day dishes and put the good stuff in the cabinet and bought another set for the china cabinet. LOL

I have three sets of dishes now and rotate them every few months so they all get used. One is purple, I love purple, another belonged to a great grandmother, a third I have had for 25 years, and the fourth, well, they are my latest set.

When I got to 50 it occurred to me that I should make some changes…I moved framed prints that I love to rooms where I could see them every day…move furniture so that I could use the stuff that was most comfortable…etc. Every day is special…just like Sunday or a holiday.

By Mike D

October 13, 2008 5:30 PM | Link to this

We don’t even use our daily ware. My wife and I fight over whos turn it is to unload the dishwasher, so we adopted paper plates years ago.

By Alli

October 13, 2008 5:34 PM | Link to this

I love using my good china, silver and crystal! While I may only set the table with full place settings 6 or 7 times a year (and a few of those are dinners for 2), I use the bread plates on the hors d’oeuvre buffet whenever we have a cocktail gathering. I also use the salad plates and accent plates to serve cake. No matter how informal the occasion, I always serve wine or cocktails in my good crystal glasses. Heck, even for a small barbecue. Whenever my mom or sister has a party that will go beyond her own allotments of china, etc., I box mine up, put it in the car and add it to the mix. Your friends and family are special— you should treat them like royalty! Don’t hoard the good stuff. And by all means, you deserve it, too— don’t register for or buy yourself the boring everyday only.

By Obamania

October 13, 2008 5:41 PM | Link to this

All of you with more than one set of china should really give the extra set to people without a set. Remember everyone has one set of china before anyone should have two.

By Dave

October 13, 2008 6:29 PM | Link to this

85 year old Haviland China that my Great Grandfather gave to his wife after they were married for 10 years. We use it all the time. Why not? We hand wash it of course, but hey, what a great family tradition.

By Lauren

October 13, 2008 6:41 PM | Link to this

I use my fine china, inherited from my granny, at least twice a year. Pretty good I think. What I am terrified to use is my crystal! I have Waterford and I have been warned that it is brittle and at 50 bucks a stem I cannot bring myself to haul it out for any occassion, no matter how special. My silver gets used more often, but not a lot. I have three daughters so it will all get passed on. I am sure they will not use it as much as I have. Tradition!

By Obamania

October 13, 2008 6:45 PM | Link to this

When I become president, I’m going to make sure we have a national personal propert tax, so our government can claim it’s fair share of all of your china, silver, and crystal collections.

By BamBam

October 13, 2008 9:55 PM | Link to this

We received 16 place settings of china (plus some serving pieces) as wedding gifts 25+ years ago - I still love the pattern and thoroughly enjoy using every time we do so. We don’t use it frequently, but probably once a month or so. It makes a regular dinner seem special.

By China Queen

October 14, 2008 8:11 AM | Link to this

Okay, I’m a china addict. Everybody is weak in some way and this is it for me! I used my husband’s grandmother’s everyday china for about 10 years and used our wedding china for special times. I filled them out with ebay. Then we inherited some fine 1920’s gold-rimmed white Minton china, and I found lots of pieces on ebay to match, some made by different companies. You can get some things at great prices there because no one else may want that pattern. I now love to serve tea to friends by my other ebay china collections. Mix and match with inherited Depression glass for serving pieces, etc.

Another fun thing is to use dishes by seasons. Yes, I have a lot of cabinets and switch out! We inherited 6 Spode Christmas mugs, so I started a whole collection through overstocks at T.J.Maxx, etc. I use them every day after Thanksgiving to Mid-January. In spring/summer I use blue and white Wedgwood mixed with white Mikasa.

I do not use the sterling and crystal every day, though. My husband’s family always used only sterling but you can’t mix it in the dishwasher with anything else without causing damage, so that’s more work than I want to do regularly.

By Fae

October 14, 2008 8:14 AM | Link to this

My good dishes are hand painted Stetson china from the 50’s. My every day china is pieces from the same set that are not in mint condition. I have many serving pieces that I use for good. The only difference in my special and everyday is its condition: some utensil marks, nothing major. Find your good china on the internet and get enough to use. Then you can have the good and use it too.

By Use it!

October 14, 2008 8:19 AM | Link to this

I’m a firm believer in using the “good stuff”. Who’s more important than my family? When I got married I registered for Christmas china and ended up with 10 place settings. At our house we begin the season by having Thanksgiving dinner on the Christmas china and then eating every meal through New Years Day on Christmas plates. I’ve added some very day things likes mugs, cereal bowls etc. to the mix. My son’s first year in college I thought that maybe it was too much effort to swap out all our dishes for just my husband and I, especially since we were having Thanksgiving dinner at my in-laws. When my son got home from school for Thanksgiving he was mortified that the Christmas dishes weren’t out! I changed them out that weekend and have done so every year since - even when it’s just my husband and I. Some traditions need to be kept alive!

By I have none

October 15, 2008 12:29 PM | Link to this

My good and everyday china, crystal and silver are one and the same - Corelle dishes, Oneida flatware and Wal-Mart 10-pack plain drinking glasses. I am sort of a minimalist and dislike having to take care of things, so this filled the bill for me. I know it makes me sound like a lonely curmudgeon, and maybe I am, but I have no children or holiday celebrations to make use of it. But I think it’s a lovely tradition to use it and to share it with others. My favorite item is a plate engraved with my name that my father had specially made when I was a little girl. I still use it occasionally when I’m not too nervous about breaking it.

By B.J.

November 10, 2008 11:46 AM | Link to this

I’m glad to see that so many people use their ‘good china’.
I cook for a living and was preparing to plate a meal on this person’s good china. She had the plates stacked on top of each other in her cabinet. As I carefully pulled out these beautiful dishes, I noticed that several dishes were broken, possibly from the weight of the others. They had their meal on the last two plates left available.

B.J.