was at a friends for supper and she dailys the place mats , K snow dailys the place mats

I have never done the place mat thing maybe my mom did for like a special meal once in a while but not daily at all.

Holiday meals in my family are typically served buffet style using the kitchen counter as the buffet line. there are tables but they often fill with as many chairs as can possibly get around them and it is not uncommon for someone to be eating sitting in a chair with a plate on their lap in the living room.

so do you daily the place mats ? is it something your parents did ?

and yes I understand this has nothing to do with trapping , I am trying to understand the differences in culture

I don't think it is regional as K snow and I grew up 30 minutes from each other.

Now that I think more on it. I bet Mom used a tablecloth more than place mats. Sometimes both. And we didn't have a very fancy table at all.

My dad's dad had a solid pecan table, that was fancy, could seat 14 people. Always used place mats and a table runner. Nothing got set on the wood.

Plastic tablecloth. Place mats only for company on holidays.

growing up the first dining room table was that 1970s plastic laminate but wood grain looking table with chrome legs
then in the late 80s early 90s it was a wood table still there in mom and dads house but I think the actual top is laminate wood grain

then mom and dad got an addition in 2001 and have a second table out there , it is actually wood and it is always covered with a vinyl table cloth and for holidays mom puts a fabric one over that.


in 2000 when we got our first house my in-laws bought us a dining room table that is wood , we always kept a vinyl table cloth on that till maybe 2016 when I had to refinish the tops something had gotten under the table cloth , anyway after that I said I can sand it down and put new poly on the wood easy enough and we stopped always having a vinyl cover on it.


it definitely has more scratches but ahh it's character

I always told myself I was going to build my own super sturdy table one day with tile down the middle so hot pans could just be set on the tile, I never got to that.

No place mats here. My Mom would use them on occasion.

Trapping season can't come soon enough. Lol.

Carry on.

Grandma's - wooden table and padded chairs, always covered with a table cloth. Placemats for when visitors were coming over with the "good" china and polished silverware, not flatware.

My parents - metal table and chairs set with chrome legs from the 50's. Never covered with a tablecloth. When we childs were young and made messes; yes, often paper placemats because they controlled the amount of mess on the table, were disposable, and Dad got them by the 100's for free.

Today ( no kids ), we have a small dinette table used mainly for paperwork; most of the time we're eating in the living room watching late night tv or I'm standing around in the kitchen with a plate in hand. Something more formal, visitors and/or grandkids; we're going to a restaurant.

Growing up we didn't know what a placemat was, lol, if I remember right, maybe a table cloth.... Fast forward, Miss Daisy puts out a placemat, ON the table cloth, same placemats for a couple 3 days then replaced from the stash, with a clean tablecloth...

I'd rather just wipe the table down then wash all the cloth stuff but I don't get a vote...

Nope, Beautiful wood table. Finish needed sanding and redone every few years. Five of us at the table. No placemats. Only a tablecloth on holidays.

Mom has them out daily and changes with the season. We have supper there every Sunday

Have table that seats 12 but seldom have more than just the 2 of us, however with wife being a weaver she wove placemats that would be available for all but only use 5, 1 at each side and 1 in the middle more as hot pads than as actual placemats

Pete, you can do whatever you like!

A paper towel makes a fine placemat on a quartz island. Keeps the plate from slipping around and catches the mess I make. Find what works for you.

Wife uses place mats and cloth napkins for every meal.

Dang,,thats almost as fancy as putting out silverware when all yer eatin is fried chicken.Yer friends much be rich peoples!!

Dang,,thats almost as fancy as putting out silverware when all yer eatin is fried chicken.Yer friends much be rich peoples!! [/quote]

Actually she grew up dirt poor living in some very poor bad neighborhoods , worked hard and got a good job and she does it because she likes it , I suspect it makes her feel like she is doing well.

but you only need to bring the silverware needed to the table.

^^^^^^ LOL,,I was joking.

Don't ever remember seeing the top of mom's dinning room table. Mom always had a table cloth on it. Place mats were for Sunday meals or hot dishes. My wife bought a real nice dinning room set when we retired. We eat around it once a year for Christmas dinner.