Table-cloths and Napkins.
The range in quality and price of table linen is greater than that of almost any other fabric. It is a long step from the materials that are so coarse, so loosely woven that they might be used for sieves, to the double damask, so fine that even under a magnifying glass it is almost impossible to discern the threads. One can buy three or four yards of the coarse fabric for about a dollar, and it is possible to be asked one hundred times as much for a dozen napkins and a table-cloth, three or four yards long, of the finer quality. But the average housekeeper does not go to these extremes. It does, however, often happen that a woman with a limited purse, and a thousand calls upon it, makes the mistake of buying table linen of too inferior a grade. It is not economy to purchase a mixture of cotton and linen. Better a coarse all-linen table cloth than a fine one with part cotton, which may look attractive in the store, but cannot be laundered well, whereas the pure linen will improve with age and wear. In purchasing table linen the questions that the housekeeper should ask herself are: Will it be subject to hard wear, and be laundered by inexperienced hands? Can I afford to replenish it frequently? Shall it be fine and beautiful, or shall it be durable, with as much beauty as possible under the circumstances?
The finest goods are of Irish and French manufacture; but the German, while coarse, wear wonderfully well, and some of them have very handsome designs. Nothing in the way of linen lasts longer than the half-bleached damask, and if one live in the country, this may be bleached to a snowy whiteness in a few months. In purchasing these German goods it is wise to get a cloth that costs at least one dollar and a half or two dollars per yard. A cloth of this kind will outwear several of the cheaper grades that are mixed with cotton, and if properly laundered it will always look well. Of course, one can get in these goods a fair piece of table linen at seventy-five cents or a dollar per yard, but the better quality will be found to be the cheaper in the end. Dinner, luncheon, and tea sets may be had, the cloth costing no more than if bought by the yard, with the advantage of having a border all around it.
A piece of heavy felt or double-faced Canton flannel will be required under the table-cloth. It will cost about eighty cents a yard. It is a good plan to get one that will answer when the table is enlarged for guests. It can be folded double when the table is small.