The case for vintage: Holidays a great time to use the family china, crystal, silver, linens

For many, an old-fashioned holiday is a sentimental ideal.

Favorite dishes — and their aromas — coming from the kitchen. A fresh-cut tree festooned with heirloom ornaments. Friends and family arriving just as the snow starts to fall.

What could be better?

How about setting the table with adornments of the past, and actually using the vintage china, silver and linens that remind us of family memories we hold dear?

That’s what Martha Pauly Banning of Cedarburg does when she entertains for the holidays.

“I like to go out of my way for guests — to fuss a bit and to let them know they’re special,” she says. “Using the heirloom pieces we have also is a way of sharing family memories.”

It’s more than memories she shares. As guests gather at the table, they dine on her late mother’s cream-colored tablecloth, crystal that was a gift from a dear friend, silver flatware that she registered for decades ago when she got married and Haviland china that was passed down from her husband, Bill’s, grandmother.

“She was Margaret Culkin Banning, an author who had a house on the Brule River in Wisconsin,” she says. “When she died, we were honored to inherit her china.”  

Banning enjoys entertaining and looks forward each year to when her three grown children, and her grandchildren, are able to return for the holidays. She often sets the dining room table a few days in advance.

“It’s so pretty, with the sparkling glassware, the pretty floral china and shiny silver,” she says. The light reflected from the chandelier brings back memories, too.

“It was my mother’s,” Banning says. And her Chippendale dining set belonged to her grandmother.

“I always say that our relatives are with us when we entertain for the holidays,” she says. “It’s a way of reflecting on those who are no longer with us and honoring their memory.”

And truly, Banning says, it’s not much additional work to use the vintage pieces that others might keep stored away.

Such nice things often require extra care, but the result can be an authentically old-fashioned holiday table. Plus there are ways to streamline the process so the care and use of old pieces better match today’s lifestyle.

Silver

Phil Dries of Walworth County literally wrote the book on sterling silver. It is “Warman’s Sterling Silver Flatware: Value & Identification Guide,” and Dries readily admits that silver flatware is not as popular as it once was.

“In 1989, 13% of brides registered for sterling,” he says. “In 2017 it is 4%.”

Price is a factor, he says. “A four-piece place setting then cost about $250,” he says. “Now it’s about $800.”

People live differently today, too, he says. Plus silver — whether sterling or silver plate — is perceived to be more labor-intensive.

“But when it comes to the care of silver, the work is just not that difficult,” he says.

His tips:

• Many of today’s silver chests are lined with a fabric that prevents tarnishing.
• Silver cleaning products are better and require fewer steps. Hagerty has a product (Silversmiths’ Spray Polish) that you simply spray on and wipe off.
• Dries does not recommend dipping silver flatware into liquid polish. “Part of what’s special about silver flatware is the patina,” he says. “Liquid silver dips can strip that away.”
• Silver can be washed in the dishwasher. “Years ago silversmiths Reed & Barton said silver could be washed with Liquid Cascade on the ‘crystal’ or ‘delicate’ dishwasher setting,” Dries says. And that’s a game changer.

Dries says the history, tradition and provenance of silver make it all the more special at the holidays.

”It reminds you of all of the holidays of the past that you spent with those who meant so much to you,” he says. “To evoke those memories, to me, is a special thing.”

China

Jean Marie Best is an artist who incorporates antique glass and china into her whimsical garden art and also sells it (as well as antique linens) at her shop, the Vintage Glass Garden, at 5700 W. Vliet St. She finds the old pieces at estate sales, rummage sales, thrift shops and more.

“To me, they’re important because of who had them,” she says. “Your grandma, your aunt, your mom. It was special to them and if you inherited it, it’s special to you,” she says.

Not only is vintage china easy to find today, it generally is not expensive.

“People in their 60s and older are trying to get rid of their stuff, and there are more people unloading it than wanting it,” Best says. “So it’s readily available.”

That means that if you don’t have fine china of your own, you often can find complete sets for cents on the dollar. For example, Legacies estate sale and consignment showroom in Fox Point recently had a 44-piece set of Spode china for $150, a 66-piece set of Paul Muller Selb for $125 and a 95-piece set of Lenox for less than $400.

One of the reasons there is so much vintage china available is that it is quite durable and lasts for generations. While you probably will want to hand-wash china that is 50-plus years old and any china with gold or silver trim, you can put china in the dishwasher on the delicate setting with mild detergent. Never use lemon scented detergents or those with bleach because they contain acids that can eat away at the china’s surface.

When storing china, it’s best to separate each plate with a paper towel, a coffee filter or foam insert. Make sure the china is completely dry before putting it away.

Best says many millennials are interested in the kitsch factor of vintage tabletop items, and she suggests that there are ways to set an attractive table even if you don’t have a complete matching set of china.

“Even if your taste is Pottery Barn or Crate and Barrel, you can mix in vintage items,” Best says. Her tips:

• Mix colorful vintage serving pieces with white dinner plates.
• Scatter vintage salt and pepper shakers around the table.
• Use small dessert plates to hold hors d’oeuvres before dinner. Mix and match patterns.
• Use vintage doilies or napkins under candlesticks on a mantel, letting them hang over the edge.

Linens

Vintage linens come in all shapes, sizes, patterns and colors. Tablecloths, placemats, napkins: All represent a very different time and place.

“You literally can’t duplicate them,” says Melissa Rausch, manager of the Laundry at Linens Limited in West Allis, a longtime company that launders linens from customers around the nation and even the world.

“The quality is exceptional and the detail is amazing,” she says of vintage linens. “It all was done by hand, and they are quite literally irreplaceable.”

That’s why their care is so important.

Not only does she know the ins and outs of caring for old linens, but Rausch, 48, sets her own table with vintage linens when she entertains.

“Ever since I started working here, I am drawn to old linens,” she says. “Every time I am at an estate sale or thrift shop I check them out.”

While heirloom pieces are irreplaceable, Rausch knows not everyone can afford to have them professionally laundered. The cost of having a 3-yard vintage linen tablecloth professionally laundered can range from $140 to $168 on average, in part because it is so labor-intensive. “It’s a luxury service, we realize that,” Rausch says.

By far the majority of the company’s clients come from outside the metro area. “We have some clients from Milwaukee’s North Shore, but otherwise we draw from elsewhere,” she says.

But Rausch says that the care that is required to keep vintage linens looking their best shouldn’t preclude people from using them.

“There’s no point in just letting a pretty tablecloth or embroidered napkins sit in a cedar chest,” she says. “If you have them you should use them.” Even when that means taking care of them yourself.

“We offer tips on our website,” linenlaundry.com, she says. They include:

• Wash vintage linens in cold or warm water using a pH-balanced laundry detergent without additives.
• If the linens have colored embroidery thread, wash in cold water so the colors won’t run.
• In most cases, do not use liquid fabric softener.
• After the laundry cycle is complete, hang the items on a line or drying rack to air dry. Reshape them before they are dry.
• Iron and reshape the linens while they are still slightly damp. Use the proper heat setting based on the fabric.
• Removing stains and discoloration can be tricky. The website has a list of stains and how to remove them. 

Rausch says fine table linens should not be taken to a dry cleaner.

“They use harsh chemicals, high heat and a machine that can damage the fabric,” she says.

Crystal

Hand-washing is best for fine crystal, especially some of the more delicate heirloom crystal.

“Some of my Waterford crystal has cracked in the dishwasher, and when that happens, it’s ruined,” says Banning.

The vibrations and temperature changes cause the cracking, according to experts. Crystal glassware also can turn cloudy when machine washed.

When hand washing, place a rubber mat or towel on the bottom of the sink to provide a soft landing for the glassware. Fill the sink with warm water and add a teaspoon of mild liquid dish detergent. Submerge glassware and wash using a non-abrasive sponge or soft dishrag. Rinse with warm water and place upside down on a towel on the counter.

Dry by hand with a soft terry cloth or microfiber towel.