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I wasn't sure whether to post this in a health related forum, an antique-related forum, or what. So I settled on Food & Drink.
I drink a ton of water every day, and to me, a decent drinking glass for use at home is at least 16 ounces. I drink coffee every morning, and my "cup" of coffee is certainly not a "cup" meaning 8oz, but a big travel mug. I drink wine at night, but I don't even own wine glasses that are 4oz, the supposed standard "glass" of wine.
I recently inherited a bunch of stuff from my grandparents' home--dishes and glasses, some being collectibles & antiques-- and all the drinking glasses are teeny-tiny. I also like to got to antique shows and flea markets, and you'll find that most of the older glasses & goblets are much smaller than what you find today. Even wine glasses from 50+ years ago are more like today's aperitif glasses.
If I had to use an 8oz glass, I'd be re-filling it 3-4 times during a meal!
We use mugs now for coffee & tea, but tea & coffee cups from antique sets are much smaller. "Juice glasses" were almost like a shot glass.
Sometimes when you go to old-fashioned diners, you'll get these really small drinking glasses whether you get water, soda, or iced tea. And beware if you order orange juice with breakfast--you'll get shot glass full.
So do we drink more these days, or did they just refill their glasses more in the old days?
It could be an overall portion size thing, since dinner plates, soup bowls, and luncheon plates in older sets are pretty small too.
So now I have these very nice crystal and depression-glass glasses, and they are too small for adult use, and too nice for kids to use! Guess they are just for decoration?
Interesting question. I know that the juice glasses we had growing up were very small...4-6oz. Our dinner glasses were probably 10oz. The tea pitcher was on the table, so we just got refills, if needed. A lot of times people with wells used those long-handled water dippers to get drinks...I guess they drank till they were satisfied, no matter how many "dips" it took. I think they probably just used pitchers more, and refilled their glasses.
Maybe it's related to how few of us eat at the table anymore. I pour myself a big glass of water and/or a decent sized glass of wine, and then go to the living room or sit at the computer. If I had small glasses, I'd be running back & forth to the kitchen an awful lot!
I'm also just remembering that some comedian in the 80s (I forget who) would go on about the 7-11 Big Gulp--"like who needs 32 ounces of any liquid?"
Now the Big Gulp is not so big, and there are convenience store drinks that are bigger. To me, 32 ounces is just two regular glasses, and I can drink that just with dinner...
I would definitely say that we do. Just look no further than the availability of different sizes of soft drinks and water in grocery or convenience stores compared to, say, about 20 to 30 years ago. And I buy more bottled water in abundance than I used to.
It's because we all overeat and overdrink now. Look at pics of your grandparents hanging with their friends, and you hanging with yours. Your friends are probably chunky monkeys, and theirs aren't. We are a nation of fatties now, while our grandparents and greatgrandparents were slim.
Check this out, the poster for the movie Fatso, from 1980. His character was fat enough to warrant ridicule, hence the movie... would he be that fat today? NOPE! He's just a little chubby by today's standards, nothing alarming about him.
No, I know about all the super-sizing of portions with food, but this is just asking about drinks. I pretty much eat what used to be normal portions, and are today considered smaller portions, but I drink a large amount, and most people I know do as well. That's whay I kept this about liquids. I eat at a restaurant, and I always end up taking half my food home, but I get my drinks refilled several times while I'm there.
Why would drinking 32 oz of water, 20 oz of black coffee, or an 8oz glass of wine be related to being a "fatty" or a "chunky monkey?" Maybe the wine, because it has calories, but not the other two. That's pretty much all I drink, besides maybe unsweetened iced tea in restaurants, becasue their water is often nasty, and an alcoholic mixed drink once in a great while.
Last edited by Tracysherm; 02-28-2011 at 06:02 PM..
Poeple eat and drink alot now days.I really doubt we drink as much water has we do not work and need as much fluids and retrin more because of it.That is what happens with weight.
It's because we all overeat and overdrink now. Look at pics of your grandparents hanging with their friends, and you hanging with yours. Your friends are probably chunky monkeys, and theirs aren't. We are a nation of fatties now, while our grandparents and greatgrandparents were slim.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TracySam
No, I know about all the super-sizing of portions with food, but this is just asking about drinks. I pretty much eat what used to be normal portions, and are today considered smaller portions, but I drink a large amount, and most people I know do as well. That's whay I kept this about liquids. I eat at a restaurant, and I always end up taking half my food home, but I get my drinks refilled several times while I'm there.
Why would drinking 32 oz of water, 20 oz of black coffee, or an 8oz glass of wine be related to being a "fatty" or a "chunky monkey?" Maybe the wine, because it has calories, but not the other two. That's pretty much all I drink, besides maybe unsweetened iced tea in restaurants, becasue their water is often nasty, and an alcoholic mixed drink once in a great while.
I'm not sure about your response to Onglet as the issues of food and drink portions are indeed related in my opinion. Eating and drinking habits have changed drastically over the years and although Americans were most assuredly in the forefront of the "fast eat and run" epidemic, other Western countries have followed suit in the last several decades.
I was gobsmacked when I emigrated to the US in 1968 by the preponderance of obesity and the huge food portions offered in dining establishments, both fast and high-end. So few these days actually sit down at home as a family to enjoy dinner together, slowly savor it and converse. Fast food, microwaved entrees and prepackaged processed grub are in many places the norm rather than the exception. Gobble, eat and run, grab something from the 'fridge and then run off to do whatever. Conversation on the run. No time, gotta run!
Maybe, TracySam, and since this inheritance has got you thinking, you might consider introducing your family back to those old days. Children are easily taught to respect table manners, set dinner times, basic dining etiquette, use of smaller plates and appreciation for those delicate but refillable glasses which have so much history. It's never too late! Just an observation from a tired old tart!
PS. Oh, and by the way, I live in the tropics and drink LOTS of bottled water!
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