Belfast, Ireland, is the home of linen and damask. There are manufactories in both Scotland and France, but it is in Belfast that the fabric attains to the highest perfection, and "Irish linen" has come to be synonymous with excellence of design and weaving and luster—a most desirable trilogy. The prospective purchaser of table linen should go to her task fortified with some information on the subject, that she may not find herself totally at the mercy of the salesman, who often knows little about his line of goods beyond their prices. First of all she will probably he asked whether she prefers bleached or unbleached damask. The latter—called "half-bleach" in trade vernacular—is made in Scotland and comes in cheap and medium grades alone. Though it lacks the choiceness of design and the beauty and fineness of the Belfast bleached linens, it is good for everyday wear and quickly whitens when laid in the sun on grass or snow; while the fact that its cost is somewhat less than that of the corresponding quality in the bleached damask, and that it wears better, recommends it to many. Occasionally the chemicals used in the bleaching process are made overstrong to hasten whitening, with the result that the fibers rot after a while and little cut-like cracks appear in the fabric. This is not usual, but of course the unbleached damask precludes all possibility of such an occurrence. One firm in Belfast still conscientiously employs the old grass-and-sun system of bleaching, and their damask is plainly marked "Old Bleach." The half-bleach is sold both by the yard and in patterns.
DAMASK
Damask, by the way, takes its name from the city of Damascus where the fabric was first made, and is simply "linen so woven that a pattern is produced by the different directions of the thread," plain damask being the same fabric, but unfigured. The expression "double damask" need occasion no alarm; it does not imply double cost, a double cloth, or double anything except a double, or duplicate, design, produced by the introduction of an extra thread so woven in that the figure appears exactly the same on both sides of the cloth, making it reversible.
QUALITY
The next thing will be to decide between buying by the yard and buying a pattern cloth in which the border continues without a break all the way around, adding about ten per cent to the price. The designs in both cloths are the same in corresponding qualities. We are knights and ladies of the round table these days, and cloths woven specially for use thereon, with an all-round center design, come only in patterns. Cloths of this description are used also on square tables, as the wreath effect is very decorative. As to the quality of damask, it depends not so much upon weight—for the finest cloths are by no means the heaviest—as upon the size of the threads and the closeness and firmness with which they are woven. Avoid the loosely woven fabric; it will neither wear nor look so well as the one in which the threads are more compact. In the better damasks the threads are smoother and finer in finish.
DESIGN
Styles in table linens change from time to time and render it difficult to say what may or may not be used with propriety, except that the general principle of coarse, heavy-looking designs being in poor taste always holds good. One pattern alone has proven itself, and stood the test of time so satisfactorily that it is as high as ever in the good housekeeper's favor, with no prospect of falling from grace—our old friend the dainty, modest snowdrop, a quiet, unobtrusive little figure in a garden array of roses, English violets, lilacs, tulips, irises, and poppies—for these are flowery times in linens. Occasionally we meet with a scroll or fern design, though the latter is gradually falling into disuse as being too stiff to twine and weave into graceful lines. So true to nature and so exquisitely woven are these posy patterns that they form in themselves a most charming table decoration. In order to secure perfect reproduction a manufacturer in Belfast has established and maintains a greenhouse where his designers draw direct from the natural flower. This care is but the outgrowth of the more refined living which demands that beauty shall walk hand-in-hand with utility.
PRICE AND SIZE
Before our housekeeper starts a-shopping she must lock up her zeal for economy lest it lead her away from the straight and narrow way of good taste into that broader path which leads to the bargain counter. She may as well make up her mind at once that desirable table linen is not cheap, the sorts offered at a very low price being neither economical nor desirable, and that a cheap cloth which cheapens all of its surroundings is dearly bought at any price. Occasionally the experienced shopper can pick up at a sale of odd-length or soiled damasks something which is really a good offering, particularly during the annual linen sale which falls in January. But as a rule beware of bargains! The fabric is liable to be a "second" with some imperfection, or to contain a thread of cotton which gives it a rough look when laundered, and there is generally a shortage in width—which suggests the advisability of measuring the table top before buying, for cloths come in different widths, and one which is too narrow looks out-grown and awkward and—stingy! The average table is about 4 feet across, and requires a cloth 2 yards square, though in buying by the yard it is safe to allow an extra quarter for straightening the edges and hemming. The cloth should hang at least a foot below the edge of the table, with an increase of half a yard in length for each additional table leaf. A cloth 2 yards square will seat four people; 2 by 2 1/2, six; 2 by 3, eight; 2 by 3 1/2, ten; and 2 by 4, twelve. A wider table calls for a half or a quarter of a yard more in the width of the cloth, at some little additional cost, as fewer cloths in extra widths are made or called for. Usually a good pattern runs through three qualities of table linen, with napkins in two sizes to match—22-inch for breakfast and luncheon use, and 24-inch for dinner. These are the standard sizes most generally used, though napkins are to be had both larger and smaller. A napkin should be soft and pliable, and large enough to cover the knees well. Prices on all-linen bleached satin damask pattern cloths, with accompanying napkins, are about as appear in the list on the opposite page:
| CLOTHS. | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| GOOD QUALITY | BETTER | EXTRA GOOD | |
| 2 x 2 yards, each | $2.00-$2.75 | $3.50 | $4.50-$5.25 |
| 2 x 2 1/2 " " | 2.50- 3.50 | 4.50 | 5.75- 6.75 |
| 2 x 3 " " | 3.00- 4.25 | 5.25 | 6.75- 8.00 |
| 2 x 3 1/2 " " | 3.50- 4.85 | 6.25 | 8.00- 9.25 |
| 2 x 4 " " | 4.00- 5.50 | 7.00 | 9.00-10.75 |
| 2 1/4 x 2 1/4 " " | 2.90- 3.75 | 4.50 | 6.00- 7.75 |
| 2 1/2 x 2 1/2 " " | 4.25- 4.50 | 5.25 | 7.50- 8.75 |
| 2 1/2 x 3 " " | 5.00- 5.50 | 6.25 | 9.00-10.50 |
| 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 " " | 6.25- 6.50 | 7.50 | 10.50-12.25 |
| 2 1/2 x 4 " " | 7.00- ---- | 8.50 | 12.00-14.00 |
| 2 1/2 x 4 1/2 " " | ---------- | ---- | 13.50-14.75 |
| 2 1/2 x 5 " " | ---------- | ---- | 15.00-17.50 |
| 2 3/4 x 2 3/4 " " | ---------- | ---- | 11.00-13.00 |
| 3 x 3 " " | ---------- | ---- | 15.00-16.00 |
| 86 x 90 inches, " | 3.50 | ||
| 86 x 108 " " | 4.25 | ||
| 86 x 136 " " | 5.00 | ||
| 86 x 144 " " | 5.75 | ||
| NAPKINS. | |||
| 22 x 22 inches, dozen | $2.50-$3.00 | $3.75 | $5.00-$5.50 |
| 23 x 23 " " | 3.00 ---- | 5.25 | 7.00- 7.50 |
| 24 x 24 " " | 3.00- 3.75 | ---- | |
| 25 x 25 " " | 3.50 ---- | 5.25 | |
| 27 x 27 " " | 6.35- 7.50 | ---- | |