Doilies on the decline - can the face of celebrity save them?

Supermarket chain Asda reported it sold only 400 packs of the patterned white ornamental mats nationally last week compared to an average weekly sale of 12,000 packs 15 years ago.

The terminal decline in demand is being blamed on social change. Since the 1950s doilies were regarded as a sign of class and good manners.

But now they are viewed as outdated and the preserve of snobs - as epitomised by Hyacinth Bucket from the TV sitcom Keeping Up Appearances - or fussy old ladies, the supermarkets' experts say.

In a bid to give the product younger appeal, Asda is considering producing a new range of doilies adorned with pictures of celebrities such as soccer star Wayne Rooney, his girlfriend Colleen McLoughlin and cricketer Andrew Flintoff.

Designers are also being asked to try vibrant new colours like purple, gold and silver as part of a proposed "Save Our Doilies" campaign to preserve what the supermarket says is a "once powerful social icon."

Julie Simpson, Asda's doily buyer, said: "It may look like a simple paper table decoration but the doily was once regarded as a pillar of what it means to be British.

"However, sales have collapsed and it is in danger of disappearing altogether.

"Using pictures of celebrities may not appeal to all doily lovers but we are willing to consider every option to preserve this great British tradition."

Doilies are currently made from white paper cut to resemble a variety of delicate patterns. They were designed as a cheaper but respectable alternative to the crochet linen doilies often found in aristocratic homes from as early as the 17th century.

Sales rocketed in the 1950s as a reaction to post-war austerity and the doily quickly became a symbol of upward social mobility.

Miss Simpson added: "At one time every cake stand, plate and saucer had to have a paper doily on it to look respectable.

"Inviting the vicar to tea, holding a cake sale or even a meeting of the Mothers' Union would have been unthinkable without a generous and continuous supply of doilies on hand."

The supermarket is also keen to stress the "practical advantages" of doilies, such as protecting a plate by absorbing the grease from a sausage roll or soaking up tea that has spilled into a saucer.

Last night Anne Biss, of the Embroiderers' Guild, said it is not only paper doilies that are disappearing from the nation's tables.

"It's increasingly difficult to find the patterns and threads for the crochet ones nowadays," she said.

"My mother is always looking for the paper ones and gets quite miffed when she can't find them in the shops.

"It's a sign of the times. People don't really have the sort of teas anymore where Aunty Maud would turn up on a Sunday afternoon and people used to get their best china out."

Asda's research also found that, somewhat surprisingly perhaps, of the regions where its doily sales are highest, very few are in the affluent South East.

In fact, Birmingham was named as the greatest doily using area in the UK, followed by Watford, Liverpool, Cwmbran in South Wales, and Morley in West Yorkshire.