“I would like to have a vegetable knife,” says a woman to the salesman. “Yes, Madam,” says he, handing her a knife. “Thank you,” says the customer, not even looking at it. Then she goes home and tries to pare a pumpkin with the dainty little flexible knife that she has bought and finds that the task is quite impossible. Why? Because she has used a knife not designed at all for anything but a potato or an apple. Such things are very frequent because the purchaser doesn’t realize that “vegetable knife” as well as “motor car” spells many types, and that the knife is even more diversified in design than the car to meet various kinds of work. What carpenter would think of cutting across the grain with a plane meant for cutting with the grain? The carpenter realizes the range of design in his tools, however. So should it be with women if they wish to save their nerves, their hands and their time and make their food look worthy of its cost. The background of the knife and fork is surrounded with historic significance and romance. The knife seems to be the first-born of Father Cutlery and the fork a late development as a table essential; and the spoon comes so late that it isn’t even romantic. First of all, cutlery was developed from the hunting knife in various guises. Then it became the sword of history. Not until the Middle Ages were knives used on the table, and then only one or two. Not until two or three hundred years ago were they used by each individual! And this first took place in Italy. Ordinary cutlery was really first used in the form of the sheep shears, very much like the shears used in the Rembrandt painting: The Old Woman Cutting Her Nails. Before steel was used, bamboo, shell, then copper, bronze, tin and copper and the so-called “steel” of Damascus were the materials out of which the knives and swords were built. As forks were a later development and were used at first only as a means of helping the diners from the central dish, it was necessary for the diners to wear gloves to shield them from the rigors of hot foods. Therefore, with such methods it was necessary to recover in sanitary fashion and to this end servitors would meet each diner with a bowl of water and a towel. Thus has the finger bowl descended unto us. For some time after the knife and fork were used generally, each person would carry his own beautiful set in a handsome case at his belt or girdle. During the 18th Century when the fork was commonly used it was with the knife superbly fashioned of jewels and metal work. For the most part forks were two pronged, and not until Louis XV of France did the four-tine fork come into being. So from the hunting knife and the crotched wooden stick was born our own diversified cutlery. Not only in steel of fine temper and hardness, but recently of steel with the added qualities of stainlessness.