I have everyday china and formal china, plus my husband’s grandma’s china (which is not my taste at all). We don’t use any of it.

I have my grandmother's china and my own. I use china once a year at most. It's really not worth the storage space or having to take extra care when washing it. I certainly don't want my mom's or MIL's china. They're both talking about how I can have their silver- I don't want their silver either. It's not my taste and I don't have any sentiment over possessions.

I took some family china when I was in my lates 20s and decided I may never get marrried. 2 years later I got married. I got my own simple, modern china, and the bold floral outdated china is just not my style now. It takes up space and I'd rather not use it. If I need extra place settings I use my solid white every day dishes that just look better on the table.

I don’t want to care for the silver. I would have a set of dishes for every day of the week and every holiday if I had the room for it. As long as I liked the pattern, I would be delighted to receive good China and crystal, not my MIL’s “antique” dishes from Montgomery Ward.

There are things worse than family china. Persian rugs.

I don't want it because I'm very practical, and live in a small house. I also have a small child who breaks things (on accident, but it happens).

I think for the most part it's that many people who would be of the income level to be passing down china picked out their own china as part of their wedding registry, if they wanted it. So, then when their parents are downsizing or die the don't need/want another set of formal china. Most people don't even use one set very often. If parents think their kids would want their china/grandma's china, then they should offer it at the time the kids are getting married.

I have my grandma's china and received it before I got married. Love it because it's a classic pattern -- very simple white with a silver border. Since I already had that, DH and I did not register for china.

I have my MIL's nice china and Mom's silver. Got my own crystal and some of the china & silver. I use it at holidays and always use the crystal when I have girlfriends over. I used 3 stems last night when I had a couple of families over. Me & two other Moms. Life is sweet.

My family has no china. I got some of the everyday stuff but don't use it anymore.

I like my MIL's wedding china - it's beautiful. But not sure where I would put it. If I inherit it (that's a big if) maybe I'd use it as our everyday china, because it's pretty but not overly formal.

I can imagine lots of reasons people not want more china, especially if their home is too packed with things already.

It is funny that you are posting about this because our conversation around the dinner table on Thanksgiving Day was about the china, crystal and silver. We talked about the heritage of the items and the stories we associate with them.

I read an article a few years ago in WaPo that said that people are turning away from the old stuff. For some reason our family is different. My sister and mother and I are in the midst of scouring E-bay, Replacements, estate sales and every other place we can think of to add to our sets so that as our families get bigger with weddings and babies and such that we can handle the population explosion. Our children are also asking about specific sets (Nana's china, Great-Grandma's china, PeePaw's crystal). So we are also working under the philosophy that we want sets of 12-14 of everything to pass along. It is a pretty tall order.

As we were setting up on Thursday, I asked the kids what they thought about using all of this "old fashioned" stuff. One of the teen boys said that it was "stunning" and the rest of the kids agreed. I think they were right. The table looked absolutely stunning with 100 year-old crystal and china and silver. And it pleased us all that we had such a wonderful connection with those relatives who have gone before us.

Anyway, we look at it as our effort at reuse and renew. I think my grandparents and great-grandparents would be thrilled! Sorry if I'm offering a different take than the title but I did want to chime in with the perspective of our family, which as per usual seems to be going against the current.

I would have loved my mom's silver, but she is still using it. Her china pattern is so dated that even she doesn't use it! I registered for a classic china pattern and silver. Had a relative been handing down a classic pattern that I liked I definitely would have taken it.

Anonymous wrote:This comes up as an example in so many threads and I don't get it. I got my MIL's wedding china and I am beyond thrilled. It is a beautiful service in a classic, tasteful pattern. I use it for all the big holidays. I also got silver and some crystal. We have a sort of butler's pantry area in our kitchen with light-up glass front cabinets and I love to display the glasses. DH and I never did a wedding registry and my family is poor so nothing to hand down. Explain to me why you don't want it.

1. Storing it means I'd not be able to store something I want (e.g. not enough storage)
2. Don't like the pattern
3. Can't put it in the microwave
4. Can't put it in the dishwasher

FWIW we did not have china on our wedding registry. We asked for every day dishes (Corelle).

Because it’s not 1950. And if this crap is coming up in “so many threads” you people need to flip on the news or maybe check out a country where really issues are going on. Seriously.

If you love it enjoy it! We use our wedding china and crystal once or twice a year and I still love it. Will my adult children want it? I'm sure they will once they get past little kid phase.

I wouldn't necessarily want the china, but love the silver. We have actually purchased additional sets at estate sales when silver was less expensive and we use it every day. You can put everything but the knives in the dishwasher and if used regularly tarnish isn't really an issue.