bought one or two at a time, and
added to as ability permits until the set is completed. Any unusual
design runs through two years, after which it can be obtained only from
the factory. A dozen of each is a good number to aim at, for there
will be many occasions which will call out one's whole dish brigade and
keep it actively engaged. The old joke about having to wash dishes
between courses, and sending the ice cream afloat on a warm plate,
really loses its amusing aspect when it becomes an actual experience.
Unless the mistress prefers to serve her soup at the table, a tureen is
not a necessity, but if used, it must match the soup plates. It is a
somewhat fluctuating fashion, out at present. Soup plates are not the
great flaring affairs of yore. They either follow the old shape, much
reduced, or are in the nature of a large sauce dish. The meat set of
platters, plates, and vegetable dishes comes into play at all meals,
tea plates can be put to a variety of uses--in fact, many dishes
supplement one another at a saving of expense and numbers. If one has
a handsome glass bowl sufficiently large, a special salad bowl is not
an essential, but a china bowl demands plates to match. Hand-painted
china, in sets or odd pieces, is pretty--sometimes--if artistically
designed and perfectly executed, but a little goes a long way. Don't
be the innocent victim of some well-meaning relative with the
china-painting bee. Gently but firmly refuse to sacrifice the beauty
of your table to family ties; they ought to be able to stand the
strain, but your table cannot.

ODD PIECES

Japanese and Chinese ware is steadily gaining in favor--another
instance in which imitation is permissible, for the "real thing" is
undoubtedly costly. The quaint conceits in creams and sugars,
chocolate pots, bonbon dishes, and plates, with their storks and
chrysanthemums, their almond-eyed damsels and mandarins, are always
interesting. The fad of odd cups and saucers is fast developing into a
fixed fashion, and a good one, which is a particular boon to the giver
of gifts on Christmas and other anniversaries when "presents endear
absents." Pretty styles in all sizes of different French, German, and
English makes can be found at 50 cents and up, with special reductions
at sale times. Larger plates, to accommodate both the slice of bread
and the butter ball, have taken the place of the tiny butter plate, and
should properly match the meat set.