A carver should try not only to serve each person acceptably, but to leave the meat on the platter in appetizing form for a second helping.
Care of Carvers
Fine carvers should be treated with the same respect as fine razors. They should be laid always by themselves. On no account should the edge of one carver touch that of another carver, nor should it touch any other hard substance.
A carver must always be sharpened on its steel before it is offered for use, unless a contrary direction is given, and when necessary should be taken without delay to the shop of a careful workman to have the edge renewed.
It is safest to replace carvers in their own cases. When they are laid in a drawer, it is well to keep each one in its own simple case of heavy gray flannel.
General Rules
The air of a dining-room must be fresh, and not too warm. Furniture must be free from dust. Table-cloths must be laid straight and smooth. Side-tables must be draped. Napkins must be folded simply, and not in fanciful shapes, as fans, etc. The edge of a knife must be turned towards the plate; bowls of spoons and tines of forks turned up. Knives and spoons must be placed at the right of a plate; forks at the left. Place knives and forks in the order in which they are to be used; the first one used, on the outside.
All glasses must be placed at the right.