In Search of the Perfect Vintage Picnic Tablecloth

Dining in the great outdoors is a year round event in warmer climes and a summer ritual in others. Whether you swagger in with a wood splint picnic basket on your arm or make your way dragging a honking big cooler behind you, it doesn’t matter how the food arrives. And two thumbs up to people so dedicated to the craft that they have a ready-to-go picnic kit with real flatware, melamine plates and glassware. The food and the tableware are important. But what elevates the whole picnic experience to the stratosphere is putting a perfect vintage picnic tablecloth on the table.

If you’re going to a park, a tablecloth can be the thing that stands between you and the meals that have been eaten there and the bears that have licked the table previously. If you’re eating on a wooden table, your tablecloth can protect you from splinters. Using a tablecloth on a metal or glass table isn’t necessary. But a picnic without a perfect vintage picnic tablecloth is like a summer garden without marigolds or a bike without streamers on the handlebars. It’s adequate. Life is too short to live with adequate when excellence is one folded piece of fabric away.

I’m not a tablecloth collector for my own health and well being. I have enough vintage vices. And I got red wax on my mother’s, now my, perfect Christmas tablecloth 15 years ago and still haven’t recovered. I’m not a candidate for dealing the the stress of owning and using perfect vintage tablecloths.

But maybe you are. Occasional Vintage Unscripted contributor Jenni is a tablecloth collector. She uses her tablecloths inside and outside, but she has glass cut to cover the tabletop. And if a gravy spill somehow happens, she is a wizard at getting stains out.

I am not a wizard. So I buy tablecloths that aren’t perfect on purpose, sometimes even with holes, because a patched tablecloth tells a story. If something happens, well it happens. The point of having vintage is to use it.

It being summer, I went on a quest for a perfect vintage picnic tablecloth on Etsy, where I found these beauties amongst the many offered…

There is nothing more classic than gingham checks. This tablecloth ($98) from CaliforniaDreamin4Me is large enough for the average picnic table, 106″ x 43″, and it comes with matching napkins. I have a similar smaller one that is as durable as it is useful. 10/10 stars, highly recommend a nice heavy cotton gingham tablecloth.

Wow. Just wow. This 1950s-1960s vintage Bar’n Barbecue tablecloth ($58) from VintageVegies is dynamite with its cocktail and matchbook design. It is rectangular at 96″ x 36″.  Teresa, the seller, is the secretary of the Vintage Tablecloth Lovers Club and has written one of the best linen descriptions I’ve read in a long time. FYI, the gray area is the chandelier shadow. There are a couple of stains, but that’s what makes it useable without guilt.

What is a summer picnic without strawberries? This 1950s strawberry print square 44″ x 44″ tablecloth ($45) is a from robineggsurprise. This also has some faint stains, so it’s perfect to use.

For your round table, how about a 1970s vintage 56″ Vera Neumann tablecloth ($100) from Rockettomarshome. The colors are like the brightest August flowers.

Love the 1990s graphics on this 58″x64″ tablecloth ($22.50) from MissPyms. It’s quirky primary color checked pattern with illustrations, dots and text would look absolutely great at any picnic.

Recently, I fell in love at first sight with a mid century seaside tablecloth sold by randomretro on Etsy. When I looked at the detail photos and recognized that the motifs were from Atlantic City–Convention Hall, the boardwalk with the rolling chairs and Steel Pier–my insides turned to goo and I feverishly bought it. Two other people had it in their cart and it was going to be mine, mine, mine. I spent many happy summers near Atlantic City with my mom, auntie and cousins and the memory of it as it used to be is etched forever on my heart.

Will I use my trophy? Yes I will. The scars of staining my mother’s perfect tablecloth are still there. But it’s time to be brave, to do what I encourage others to do and to use this piece of history because it will bring me joy every time I smooth it on a table. And if a plop of ketchup lands on it? I’ll live, and so will my tablecloth.

FYI: some fast tips for handling stains on vintage tablecloths

Rinse it as quickly as you can, I sometimes use dish soap if it’s a greasy stain. Make sure to rinse it thoroughly.

Let it dry, treat it with a good stain spray and wash it.

If soaking is necessary, a lot of linens people, including Jenni, swear by Oxi-clean. I use a product called Restoration.

Wash it with a good detergent. For me that’s Tide Ultra Stain Release.

Hang it to dry. Don’t put it in a dryer with heat or use an iron on it until you are sure the stain is as removed as the stain is going to be because heat sets stains like it sets dye.