While browsing the Food Media and News board on Chowhound, I noticed a thread started by alkapal stating that Waterford Wedgwood PLC filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday.
In a CBS News report, Kim Cotton of Tablewhere China Shop in the UK attributes the decline in sales of fine china, at least in part, to the fact that: “Young people are so happy to have TV dinners. They’re far more practical than my age group, where I always had a ‘best set.’”
Is she right? Chowhound johnb seems to agree, saying: “Let’s face it. Young brides today are not into china and crystal of the heavy decor type that those of our generation (’nuf said) appreciate. They do their registration at Crate and Barrel, not known for selling flowery patterns with gold rims and heavy cut glass. Times, and tastes, change.”
But MakingSense argues that “the prices for the ‘good stuff’ usually aren’t much different from the trendy things that I see on the gift registers,” and that “things are ALWAYS tight … If you buy good things, they last.”
I agree. I’ve written about lovingly using my grandmother’s hand-me-down Royal Worcester egg coddlers before, and truly believe that I get more satisfaction out of eating dinner on my Wedgwood Countryside dish set than off the plain white Ikea dishes I have for dinner party backup, which I jokingly call the “dishes for drunks.” For me, eating off of plates that are beautiful makes me feel like the food is special, even on weeknights when dining may be rushed and the meal might be a grilled cheese.
For more, here’s the report from CBS News:
I think it is so sad that so called foodies…never really cook so they cannot possibly appreciate beautiful dishes and linens…it is almost impossible to find cotton napkins, place mats etc….i use all my so-called good stuff all the time…it’s a wonderful indulgence and makes the simpliest of meals a banquet…
alkapal already wrote about this a few days ago:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/585179
oops, sorry, missed the first line.
I got married in 2007, and I registered for Waterford china and crystal. I have service for 8 in china, and no crystal at all. Our friends (our ages late 20’s early 30’s) bought china. Family (aunts, uncles, etc) bought us unregistered for junk. Seriously. “weather station radios” and the like.
It isn’t that young people don’t want it.
We use ours! Now I’m bummed, because I can’t afford to finish my set right now, and am afraid I won’t be able to get it.
Oh, my grandmother stepped up and generously gave us her spare “crystal” (actually glass, but cut like crystal) so we could have nice things when we hosted Rosh Hashana dinner for the whole family.
And aunts and uncles had the gall to ask why our china didn’t all match! I had to borrow pieces from my mom and mother-in-law to get enough!
Many (most?) of us do cook, daily in fact, but right now we don’t have the space for our china and silver (both my husband and I have inherited full sets) and use our daily porcelain and good silverware instead. We have table linens in both linen and cotton (new and inherited).
It’s not disrespectful to the food or demeaning to the pleasure of eating to eat off of less fragile diningware. We do, however, use the silver-handled crystal punch bowl as our popcorn dish on a very regular basis.
This is sad. I was really wanting some wine goblets as I hate drinking decent wine out of cheap glass. I was waiting for Waterford b/c I didn’t want to invest in a brand that would discontinue whatever pattern I choose.
TV dinners are nasty.. id rather eat my food on the fine china