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I corrected this article on the proper use of the finger bowl, with proper references. As all the 20th-century guides clearly indicate, the finger bowl was presented with the dessert plate or fruit plate and their cutlery, but the bowl was then set aside and not actually used until dessert or fruit were finished. Through ignorance or apathy, the very recent practice of using the finger bowl BEFORE dessert arose. My guess is that people who were pretending to be cultured, but in reality had no idea what was going on, just made up the nonsense that floats around the internet these days. The usual excuse for the practice of washing up in the middle of the meal is that the menu may have included greasy finger food——a thoroughly disgusting notion completely at odds with formal service. There may in fact be a reason to offer such finger bowls at informal dinners, particularly following whole lobster or something like that, but this would be a RECENT and INFORMAL practice. I will try to research this and come back with more information, but others who know more about the matter might do a better job. MonteGargano (talk) 15:03, 22 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]
