December, i 9 2 j 
LAYING 
69 
IT ON THE KITCHEN TABLE 
Much of the Comfort and Rase of Kitchen Work Can 
Be Traced to the Table Which Is Substantially Topped 
“TAY it on the table,” may be a safe 
JL/ thing for a chairman to say, but nt)t 
so in the kitchen! Laying a thing on the 
kitchen table is a serious, and often an ex¬ 
pensive performance, especially when the 
table has not the proper counter surfacing 
or top. 
Now the table top is not meant for a car¬ 
penter’s bench where little Willie can ham¬ 
mer out a curve in his cart wheel rim, where 
the cook can crack Brazil nuts with her 
heaviest flat-iron; no, indeed, it is meant to 
hold unabashed and unscarred all the ra¬ 
tional burdens of the kitchen. To this end 
must the table top have a few reasonable 
justifications for being. It must be non¬ 
cracking when things are brought into 
ardent or sudden contact with it; chipless; 
cleanable, for dirt must come off like water 
off the proverbial duck’s back; impervious 
to acids; impervious to grease so that 
grease can never soak in, and impervious 
to an extremely hot temperature so that a 
hot utensil can be placed on it. 
From the foregoing you can see that the 
qualities of the table top involve very fine 
manufacturing and careful purchasing. 
The familiar table top of wood has done 
service and will do service forever more. 
It is a better top than zinc because if treated 
with a good resistant varnish, it will last 
many years. It can be revarnished when 
necessary and is a pretty good table for 
those who can afford no better. The ques¬ 
tion itself of varnish is most interesting. 
Often it is convenient to cover a poor 
wood top with linoleum which, in appropri¬ 
ate design, makes a satisfactory surface. 
A hard wood, of course, should be selected 
and the top should have no flaws such as 
knots or grain which will chip out. Ash and 
maple tops make pretty good areas of work. 
A metal binder preserves the edges of a fine 
wood table top. 
Zinc tops are not very good, for they 
“puff up,” get unlevel and humpy, and 
acids are “biting” to them. 
White metal tops are excellent, non- 
corrosive, they stay flat—^but are relatively 
expensive. 
W HEN you use the glass top—unless 
you keep it for the pastry table only, 
for which its usefulness is unbounded—then 
your troubles begin. It is like living on an 
island like Japan—given to cracking up and 
sudden breaks. There are all sorts of glass 
compositions for table tops. They are beau¬ 
tiful—probably next to marble the most 
eye-satisfying. They clean easily, are not 
inroaded by acids or grease—but—they are 
unstable to shock and excessive heat—and 
one cannot carry a thermometer always to 
test the heat of the article to be placed 
ETHEL R. PEYSER 
on the table! Get acquainted when you 
buy these. Some are better than others and 
they are getting better yearly. 
The marble top is the regal topping! For 
the pastry table it is cool and useful. See 
that the marble is at least two inches thick. 
Marble tops are costly—and the price 
depends, of course, on the kind of marble 
used. 
Tin tops are practically defunct, and 
should be. 
The various types of enamel—-porcelain 
on steel, iron, etc., are about the best “buy” 
we know of for the average home. 
Nickel composition tops are charming to 
look at but must be kept polished—which 
is a chore. They also become scratched and 
then form young canyons that harbor 
vinegar and salt, which in turn corrode the 
top. 
L inoleum plus makes an interesting 
^ table top, for it has a steel counter and is 
covered by linoleum usually in one tone. The 
linoleum is bound by a metal band or nosing 
which holds it taut. This can be used beau¬ 
tifully on built-in table tops or kitchen 
counters. New linoleum can easily be put 
on when the linoleum wears—if it ever does 
■—and the steel counter will last forever. 
For years the table top has been a serious 
and basic question in the home kitchen and 
domestic science laboratory. I remember 
when I used tiles in the laboratory and 
these often broke and the cement streaked 
out. Taking all things into consideration, I 
feel that outside of the renewable wooden 
top the best of these porcelain enamels 
make, in the long run, the best appearing 
as well as the best wearing tops. 
The manufacturers of these tops are con¬ 
tinually trying to make them more proof 
against usage. Today we have these tops 
on tables, kitchen cabinets and the same 
material used for stove splashers and the 
interiors of refrigerators. 
These tops come in whites, mottles and 
blue grays. Suit yourself but get them from 
the best guarantors—firms long in business. 
Porcelain enamels are, to be sure, a 
kind of glass—but with a difference. It 
has the silica (from flint or from quartz and 
feldspar) but unless the silica is combined 
correctly with the other ingredients the 
resistance of the material is reduced. The 
secret processes of mixture and coalition has 
much to do with the value of the material. 
Then the mixture is ground, pulverized plus 
water, and is then sprayed on its unrustable 
metal base. This is then submitted to a 
2000° baking and additional layers of the 
molten porcelain are sprayed on (three 
layers at least) and “fired” in turn. These 
layers make the finished coat difficult to 
shock or cracks. Being born of fire it resists 
heat as well as shocking knocks. It does not 
absorb grease and does not surrender to 
acids and therefore doesn’t deteriorate. It is 
easily cleaned, always looks well and gives 
the kitchen an “air”. 
Porcelain tops are best when so made that 
they turn under the table and are caught 
underneath. This prevents chipping on the 
edge—where chipping seems to occur when 
it occurs. These are usually white on the 
top with a blue edge which turns under the 
table ledge. 
Porcelain tops come for old tables, so that 
anyone desiring a modern kitchen need but 
renovate the old. 
The purchaser can be more easily fooled 
by a porcelain table top than by many 
another kind. This is because the poorest 
can be made to look like the best. So it be¬ 
hooves you to go to the best makers. 
The ordinary table is usually 3' x 7'. 
Most kitchens, depending on the size of 
the room and of the family and its needs, 
have two or three surfaces from which the 
cook works. For example, the large kitchen 
has a pastry and a regular table. This table 
is often partly covered with glass or marble 
for fine pastry work and the other part is of 
maple or ash. 
A small 3' table can be had of glass or 
thinner marble for a pastry table in a small 
kitchen. Under some pastry tables or the 
large marble top seven footers, there are 
racks for holding pies or cakes. Under some 
tables can be built cupboards or whatever 
the purchaser desires. 
In order to use the surface with conven¬ 
ience the top should be about 32" from the 
floor. But if you always employ “shorties,” 
28" may do. 
And so, it is true—kitchen comfort is 
•TjL mainly dependent on table comfort— 
consequently it is worth while to buy care¬ 
fully and get guarantees from good makers. 
Don’t forget, too, to insist that your 
table must stand evenly on the floor, so that 
it doesn’t rock or tip. If your table does tip, 
call on a carpenter or on the people where 
you bought the table,—don’t be satisfied 
until the condition is cured. What can be 
cured must not be endured. And the 
annoyance and impracticalness of an 
unlevel table or a wobbly one are difficult 
to overestimate. A drop spilled upon the 
sloping surface of a badly set table is not 
content to remain a drop, but develops 
into a stream. 
The subject of tables is too important to 
slur, so I am in hopes that this introduction 
will be a spur to careful buying, which 
makes for comfort and assures a reasonable 
return for your expenditure. 
