U.S.A. Brings A Lot To The Picnic Table

By Kathy Moran

(HIT)- One of the greatest social events ever dreamed up, a picnic is a combination of food, family, friends, recreation, entertainment, and merriment. At the first sign of spring, people begin firing up their grills and taking their meals outdoors, and they don't go back inside until the world freezes over once again. In fact, there are some year-round, die-hard barbecuers who won't quit unless someplace much larger and hotter freezes over, too.

The English word "picnic," which comes from the French "pique-nique," dating back to 1692, was introduced in 1748. First meant as a casual potluck gathering, to which everyone brought a dish, it rose to the status of a fashionable social affair in the 19th century, when a group of wealthy Londoners formed The Picnic Society. Its rapid rise in popularity soon led to the invention of the picnic table.

Today, a picnic can be anything from a casual meal on the porch, with paper plates and plastic forks, to a formal picnic lunch, with gourmet food served on good china. Like the picnic itself, the picnic table has undergone many transformations, and AllPicnicTables.com has scores of stunning examples of what good old American ingenuity has done for it.

Of course, they still offer the classic, rustic-looking, hand-crafted cedar, oak, and pine tables we all had in our backyards. However, with porches, decks, and patios becoming more elaborate every year, and backyard gazebos popping up in record numbers, outdoor entertaining has reached new heights. Beyond barbecues, people are hosting dinners, formal parties, and even weddings in their own backyards. For those fancier occasions, they've created elegant dining sets, some of which are made from luscious cherry and teak.

The variety doesn't stop there. You'll find a picnic table in a size, style, shape, color, and material, to fit every occasion, and every budget. The selection includes rectangular, hexagonal, octagonal, square, round, and oval tables, with benches attached or detached. They also feature tables that are constructed from virtually indestructible aluminum, thermo-plastic, vinyl, and polywood. These are the tables you'll find lining hospital grounds, industrial parks, office complexes, and college campuses.

Indeed, there are as many versions of picnic tables as there are of picnics. To see the entire range of exciting possibilities, visit www.AllPicnicTables.com, a division of www.CedarStore.com, 5410 Route 8, Gibsonia, PA, 15044. If you don't find the perfect picnic table, they'll be happy to customize one for you! For more information, call 1-888-293-2339, or you can log onto http://www.allpicnictables.com/.