Has tableware got bigger?

Morning Glory

Morning Glory

Obsessive cook
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Well - I think it has. Its well known that wine glasses have increased in size over the last few hundred years which has been partly blamed for increased consumption of wine:
The researchers found that wine glass capacity increased from 66ml in the 1700s to 417ml in the 2000s (which is quite the jump), with the average wine glass in 2016/2018 holding 449ml.
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http://metro.co.uk/2017/12/14/wine-glasses-getting-bigger-last-two-decades-7158583/?ito=cbshare

But what about other tableware? I have some old dinner plates and soup bowls (circa 1930's or older) and they are really quite a lot smaller than my modern versions. The soup bowls in particular are quite tiny! And then there are mugs. When did we started making mugs of coffee and tea rather than cups? I seem to remember we had some mugs back in the 50's when I was a kid - but I'm sure they weren't the size of the average mug these days. What do you think?
 
...its seems that mugs have been around a long time:

Believe it or not, mugs go back many thousands of years—archaeologists found them carved out of bone as far back as the Stone Age (though it would be difficult to claim they were being used for coffee). In the first coffee shop, Kiva Han, which opened in Constantinople in 1475, wooden mugs were used. Eventually porcelain, invented in China around 600 A.D. (hence porcelain’s alternate moniker, “china” or “fine china”), and other ceramics became one of the preferred materials for mugs.
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And:
What today’s coffee drinkers think of as the “classic” or “traditional” coffee mug came on the scene in 1945. It was a product of the Victor Insulator Company, the oldest insulator business in North America. The war overseas had a crucial effect on the design and eventual popularity of the mug—built to military specifications—its thick walls added to its insulating properties, and its extra weight helped it survive falls and avoid tipping while aboard ship.
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the-humble-victor-diner-mug-an-icon-of-americana_us_55f875c9e4b0e333e54b86c4

I still think they have got bigger!
 
I think you're right. I will say one thing for certain, at least in the States: portion sizes have certainly grown, and the plates along with them (to accommodate the massive amount of food that we apparently need to eat in one sitting).

Drinking glasses are certainly larger. I recall getting a small drinking glass - maybe 10 ounces - at restaurants. At that time, it was standard practice to charge for each drink (except water), regardless of whether it contained alcohol. Over time, everywhere (except pubs) started offering free refills on non-alcoholic beverages. Now, we get a pint glass, which makes sense (so the server isn't running back and forth so often, trying to keep up with the demand). But, most places over here fill the glass with ice first, so you really aren't getting that much more of the actual beverage.
 
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Larger plates = larger portions = obesity. Look around. In the US it is not uncommon to see morbidly obese people using the electric carts to shop because they can not support their own weight. Sad - they fill their carts with junk food, packaged and processed food. No fresh veggies or fruits. No lean meats. JUNK! Watch commercials - double this, super size that, by one get one, all you can eat. Look around. See people. Obesity flourishes. Is it the same across the pond?

I am an averaged sized woman. I weigh 15 lbs. more than I did in my 20's. Probably a good thing because I was a skinny creature back then. I have an aversion to eating until I am stuffed. As soon as I begin to feel full I quit eating - no matter how divine the food may be. My Honey has battled obesity most of his life. He can not stop eating. Gastric Sleeve surgery was a radical decision. He has become aware of his limits. His stomach is the size of a medium banana. It can not hold the quantity of food that he would like to eat.

One thing I do is serve his food on a small plate - a US salad plate instead of a dinner plate. He uses a salad fork instead of a dinner fork. I have to remind him to slow down. Put the fork down between each bite and chew, chew, chew.

Is this a conspiracy of the food industry to force consumption? Just kidding - hate conspiracy theories.

From another point of view there is nothing elegant abut huge portions. I like the look of a small plate with small portions. Much more appealing.

My rant of the day!
 
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16 inches in diameter.
My cup..
p5296_extrastep2.jpg
 
My new dinner plates, soup/cereal bowls and side plates (the blue-rimmed white ones in my pics) are smaller than my old ones, some of which were bought in the 1970s as part of a dinner service, and some other plates which were bought in the 1990s. The new ones are also smaller than my Mum's old plates which I now have - these were always around in the 1950s and some I believe to be from the 1920s when my Mum first got married.

English tea cups used to hold 10 fl oz but got gradually smaller over the years, and mugs finally took over. Mugs seem to be all different sizes too. I have a 1970s coffee service where the cups are about the same size as modern tea cups. Most of my mugs seem to hold 250-300 ml, but one old one holds 550 ml. I seem to remember the mugs that we had in the 1950s were quite large too.

I have a considerable collection of glasses. The pub glasses and tankards mainly hold 1 UK pint or 1/2 pint, and there are others that are smaller and just the right size for a bottle of Stingo or Triple A. Then of course there are the sherry glasses, which come in different sizes, and the whisky glasses, and the vodka glasses (which are just under 1/2 pt, presumably because people didn't usually drink vodka straight), and the schnapps glassed which are quite small. I have two different sizes of wine glasses, and champagne/Babycham glasses.These are all proper standard pub glasses from the 1950s-1970s, and the sizes are, and still are, pretty consistent because they had officially to hold a certain set quantity :okay:. The non-pub glasses (i.e. the pretty ones that people seemed to give you in sets as gifts :D) vary considerably however. The steins which came from Germany and Austria are of course metric sizes, but I haven't measured them and they are not easy to get to. I miss the 2 litre and larger glasses we had in Austria - I should really have brought some home with me. The idea behind them was that you filled the glass up at meal times and passed it round the table - you certainly did not drink 2 litres of beer yourself out of one glass, although it could be refilled several times as the evening went on.

As far as weight is concerned, I am a mere slip of a girl at 5 ft and wear UK size 12 clothes, but I weigh about 10 1/2 stone, but I think my medications have something to do with that. My GP and consultants certainly do not think I am overweight taking my health issues into consideration and agree that I do eat pretty healthily (although I do stray occasionally). My weight seems to fluctuate considerably over a week, even varying by so much as 10 lbs, so I am not worrying.
 
Check the numbers on the side of glasses, as well as if there's a line on the glass. All should have the numbers, not all have a line marked.
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My brother-in-law bought us some wine glasses for Christmas one year. If you wished each would hold a full 700 ml. American Express conned me into a wine tasting evening. The guy was not impressed when I brought those glasses out.
 
Porcelain White Plates are definitely larger ..

And "tapas" (stews ) are served in tiny clay "cazuelas" or "palleras" ( a paella pan with 2 handles ) ..
 
Plates & bowls here are huge. Finding a dinner service with small/shallow bowls is a task.

And yes, Aussies are fat too. Size 16 is average here from what I read recently. I'm a size 18.


Portion control is the issue in this house. We all eat way too much if the food is served family style from the centre of the table, which as I love to cook & to feed others is my preference. We have made a decision recently that I will go back to plating food.
 
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