Setting a table with fine linen has long been a mark of elegance and good taste. In Elizabethan England, great lords often had household manuals written to describe correct procedures for setting a table. Under the heading “Behaving at Table,” one such manual says, “A meal began with setting the table by the servants. The best tables were covered with turkey carpets or velvet cloths. These would in turn be covered with linen tablecloths. In earlier times, these cloths might have to be layered in order to cover the table fully. The side cloths would be set on top of ...