March, 1920 
SI 
THE 
ELECTRICAL 
DINING 
ROOM 
By Using a Service Table Equipped for Electrical Appliances the Overhead Wires are 
Eliminated and Labor Reduced to a Minimum 
GRACE T. HADLEY 
A SURPRISING situation often re¬ 
veals itself when the new home 
is all built and the family begin to 
live in it. All of the bigger problems 
of exterior architecture and floor plans 
appear daily less vital. The small 
conveniences, apparently so insignifi¬ 
cant when planned, become the true 
means to family comfort. The inci¬ 
dentals in building actually become 
the recjuisites to comfortable living. 
This is especially true as revealed in 
the presence or absence of electrical 
outlets. 
Have you really considered the 
comfort and air of distinction that 
proper table appliances bring to the 
dining room? Consider the chafing 
dish—not the old alcohol type, but 
the modem electric chafing dish, re¬ 
cently graduated from college func¬ 
tions and promoted to a position of 
trust on the dining room table; the 
percolator; and the round, radiant 
grill for the perfect concoction of 
oeufs brouilles aux champignons, a 
delight for the midday breakfast! 
The eggs scrambled delicately are laid 
upon crisp toast and offer a couch for 
a layer of mushrooms. A silver dish 
completes the frame for this picture 
of epicurean delight. 
Instead of the unsightly wire dangling front a fixture, the central 
floor plug should be used in the dining room. The wire can be 
run through or between the rugs and attached to a box let into 
the apron of the dining table. It is a simple matter then to 
plug in the toaster or other electrical table devices 
Installing Outlets 
The usefulness of electrical table appliances 
may be increased by the installation of out¬ 
lets on the table itself connected by cord with 
a floor receptacle, thus doing away with in¬ 
convenience resulting from connections with 
overhead fixtures. Where two hamionious 
rugs are placed upon the floor instead 
of the traditional one large rug, the 
open space between the two rugs will 
permit the passage of the protected 
cord from the table outlet to the floor 
receptacle. 
Those having the one large rug with 
no visible aperture through which to 
run a cord will find special uses for a 
wired portable serving table having a 
two-way or three-way cluster plug 
screwed on to the table top in some 
convenient place. Usually this serv¬ 
ing table is operated from and con¬ 
nected with a special cord running to 
a nearby baseboard receptacle. If, 
however, three appliances are to be 
operated at the main table in prepar¬ 
ing a breakfast or luncheon, a No. 12 
wire should be installed in the floor 
receptacle to take care of the load, 
i. e., round grill using 600 watts, per¬ 
colator 500 watts, and the toaster 600 
watts, making a total of 1,700 watts. 
Electricity may be considered to 
flow as a current along a conductor 
very much as water flows through a 
pipe. The current of electricity is 
measured in amperes which state the 
quantity passing through the con¬ 
ductor in one second. The pressure 
which causes the current to flow is measured 
in volts. The term watt is merely a unit of 
power, and denotes^the power used when one 
volt causes one ampere of current to flow. The 
watts consumed when any given current flows 
under any pressure can always be found by 
multiplying the current in amperes by the 
pressure in volts. Thus, watts = amperes X 
.4 great step-saver for the maidless household or the maidl&ss 
night is the electrically equipped serving table. On the -boMomt 
of the top shelf is a two or three-way cluster plug, attach°ed 
connecting with the base plug, and which serves the percolator,^ 
chafing dish or whatever equipment is necessary ' 
volts. These are but simple things, 
but the electric householder should 
understand them. 
On maid’s night out, the Thursday 
night or Sunday evening meal may be 
cooked right at the table. With the 
aid of proper appliances, cookery may 
now be considered from the standpoint 
of development of aj^pliances rather 
than by any increase in the subtleties 
of the art. Modem appliances for the 
table promote the joy of extracting, to 
best advantage, the flavors and good¬ 
ness that lie dormant in good food. 
The hostess may preside and do the 
tasting with her own silver spoon. 
Seasoning can be added at the right 
moment and the food served hot from 
shining pan or graceful utensil. Such 
a meal cooked at the table in the pres¬ 
ence of the family and guests adds a 
certain cosiness and is conducive to 
good fellow’ship. 
Where there is no help available, 
the self-serving dining room becomes 
a necessity. With a couple of good 
table appliances properly connected, a 
“table butler” at the left, a hostess 
may be practically independent and 
still entertain a limited number of 
guests. With careful planning and 
proper preparation beforehand, there 
will be smoothness, ease and comfort in the 
service. However, it avails but little to know 
what should be done if definite directions are 
not given as to how it may be done. 
Preparing for the Maidless Meal 
The dining room table is set earlier in the 
evening. The softly shaded lights, the lustre 
of the silverware, the glimmer of pol¬ 
ished glasses, the graceful lines of the 
electrical appliances add to the festive 
atmosphere of the room. 
Y’hen the guests have gathered 
aljout the table, the first course may 
be celery soup previously heated and 
poured while boiling hot into themios 
pitchers, now ready to serve in small 
bowls. These bowls are then col¬ 
lected on a silver tray that is passed 
and returned to the table butler, on 
the lowest shelf of which is an elec¬ 
tric plate wanner whence come forth 
the plates for the next course. This 
may be crab meat, which is already 
cooking merrily in the electric chafing 
dish in front of the hostess. 
At her right is a small serving table 
containing round radiant grill and 
percolator. The grill is connected and 
■mushrooms are broiling beneath rays 
!'6f'"Jiery’ heat divested of its former 
, spbt and smoke. Toast is made on 
top of file rfrill. How the household 
gods must Jove the appetizing odors 
that ascend"‘as an offering when these 
champignons JstCrVed in the lower pan 
are extracted ar.d delicately deposited 
'on thg,crisp hot toast, then passed on 
;'' {’Continued on page 90) 
