141 The Forking of America - When We Start to Stop Eating with our Hands episode artwork

EPISODE · Mar 19, 2025 · 35 MIN

141 The Forking of America - When We Start to Stop Eating with our Hands

from The History of American Food · host Margaret Hardin

Ever notice that fabulous dinner parties depicted on screen rarely take place earlier than the 1800's - and in America pretty much always after the Civil War?Well!  That's because in just about every one of those situations the eating etiquette would look so different it would be unrecognizable - in fact it's likely people would be eating with their fingers!Americans have only been eating with forks - on a regualr basis for about 150 years!The earliest Americans ate with their hands - becasue so did almost everyone else.Oh - and I answer the question, why do Americans constantly switch which hands they hold knife and fork when eating fancy?All manner of Fork Trivia is covered.Music Credit: Fingerlympics by Doctor TurtleShow Notes: https://thehistoryofamericanfood.blogspot.com/Email: TheHistoryofAmericanFood at gmail dot com Threads: @THoAFoodInstagram: @THoAFood& some other socials... @THoAFoodMusic Credit: Fingerlympics by Doctor TurtleSubstack: https://thoafood.substack.com/Email: TheHistoryofAmericanFood at gmail dot comThreads: @THoAFoodInstagram: @THoAFoodShow Notes: https://thehistoryofamericanfood.blogspot.com/& some other socials... @THoAFood

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141 The Forking of America - When We Start to Stop Eating with our Hands

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