Napkin rings can be a subject of much debate: are they a pretty
and purely decorative piece of tabletop jewelry designed to
complement a place setting on formal occasions? Or are they a
utilitarian object that should never be brought out in front of
a guest? The anti-napkin ring camp has history behind them.
Napkin rings are a holdover from the days before washing
machines, when table linens were not washed after every meal and
it was necessary to use personalized rings to identify which
napkin had been used by which family member so they could
continue using the same one until it was washed. Putting a
napkin ring in front of a guest would imply that he or she was
receiving a used napkin. Blech.  The pro-napkin ring camp
campaigns on the strength of aesthetics. Today's napkin rings
are pretty and come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. The right
napkin ring can pull together a whole place setting, and since
most people don't particularly care about the history of the
napkin ring, one is unlikely to hear anythi