1762: Fingers Before Forks
By Clair D. Wilcoxon

IN THE YEAR 1762, Johnny was riding his white pony as fast as he could on a summer day in the Maryland countryside. Grandpa Tom had told him to come to a party at 4 O'clock. As usual, Johnny was late. There was always some excuse. Today, the speckled bass were biting in Tinker's Creek. Johnny just caught too many fish.

As he arrived home, he remembered seeing the shadow on the sundial already pointing to 3 O'clock. Grandpa Tom said to wear his Sunday clothes, so he had to take time to wash his face and hands and change clothes. At 12 years old, he had Sunday clothes almost like his Dad's. He pulled on the long white knee socks and jumped into the tan-colored knee pants. He slipped into his white blouse. He grabbed his black three-cornered hat and blue waist coat and ran out the side door. The servant had his pony ready. He put the coat in the bag behind the saddle and the hat on his head. He trotted the pony down the path until he was around the bend. Then he raced to Grandpa Tom's house.

As Johnny approached the large white house, he saw Grandpa Tom sitting in his wooden rocking chair on the front porch. The porch looked even bigger with the white columns stretching from the floor of the porch to the roof of the second story. Five of Johnny's cousins were already there on the porch.

Johnny slowed his pony to a trot and stopped in front of the steps.

Mary was the first to speak. "Grandpa, now that Johnny is here, can you tell us what the surprise is?"

Grandpa Tom smiled and his eyes sparkled. "At six years of age, you have plenty of time to learn everything you need to know."

He looked at Johnny and said, "Surprises do not need to be rushed like a certain young man I know." Grandpa's smile turned into the sound of a friendly chuckle.

Johnny wanted to change the subject. He blurted out, "I bet the surprise is about the war. Down at Tinker's Creek I heard some older boys saying the French have quit fighting and their Indian friends have gone back to Canada."

"Johnny, your mind runs as fast as your pony. You hear rumors before I do. When the war ends, we will have another party. Today, our party is ready in the main dinning room. Let's walk like ladies and gentleman for afternoon tea."

Mary could not just walk. She took Grandpa Tom's hand and skipped down the hall to the dinning room.

Johnny looked around the room. He didn't see any surprise. The tan linen tablecloth was on the table. The silver candleholders were in the center. A small desert plate was in front of each chair. A napkin lay neatly beside each plate. A large fruit pie was at the head of the table. Only when Johnny saw the tea cups did he realize that the plates and cups were from Grandma's china dishes from England. The grandchildren had never eaten from these plates before. They always drank their tea from tin cups.

Then Johnny noticed that there were no spoons on the table. Instead, beside each plate there was a small sized fork, like what is used to hold the meat while it is cut to be served. Instead of two tines, these little forks had four tines.

"Grandpa, are you playing games with us again? You know we need spoons to eat fruit pie."

"No, Johnny. In England, it is now fashionable to eat with a fork when you have food on a plate. The king of England eats with a fork. I ordered these forks from England six months ago. They just arrived last week. Now, we can eat with forks."

Grandpa Tom sat at the head of the table and Grandma sat at his right. Grandpa Tom served everyone a piece of cherry pie. He showed how to hold the fork. It looked funny to see Grandpa balance the cherries on the fork.

One by one the grandchildren copied Grandpa Tom. Poor Johnny. No matter how hard he tried, not even a single cherry would stay on the fork.

Finally in desperation, Johnny started to eat like he did when no one else was around.

Grandpa forgot to smile when he asked in a loud voice, "Johnny, what are you doing?"

"Haven't you heard Grandpa? Fingers were made before forks."