The dresses are becoming so large that “...The supper room on the night of a ‘grand spread’ will be a curious place. There the gentlemen will stand, armed each with a long baker’s peel with which to hand the ladies their refreshments. The greatest nicety, however, will be required in presenting a trifle, a glass of wine, or a jelly by these means, lest the whole be deposited in the fair creature’s lap.”
George Cruikshank’s “A Splendid Spread” in
Comic Almanac 1850