I was a child of the 50's. The relish tray served by my Mom was always in a Fostoria fancy dish. Celery, carrots, sweet and dill pickles, green and black olives and pickled cauliflower. The meal started out with either tomato juice or fruit cocktail. My parents were children of the Depression so I think these small touches (by today's standards) made it feel like abundance.

I too was a 50's child!! The relish tray was an important part of holiday meals. My Mom had a cut glass one . She would put pickles, olives, cheese and stuffed dates. For the stuffed dates she would take whole pitted dates (they generally have a slit down the side) and put a walnut in the center then roll it in powdered sugar. I never touched the other stuff but I loved the dates!!

Black olives for my father, green olives for me and little sweet gherkin pickles were standard fare plus celery and carrots.

And don’t forget the little white pickled onions. : 0

Pickled cauliflower

we had the carrots celery pickles and deviled eggs. cheese tray crackers separate tray.

For us, a spectacular relish tray included green and black olives.

The black olives were what made it "special" - but carrots, celery, and sweet and dill pickles were also usually included.

The best thing that I remember about the relish tray when I was a little kid were the pitted, black olives. My cousins and I would love to put them on our fingers and pop them off, one by one, into our mouths. My grandfather would look at us in horror. Bad table manners, but great fun!

We have been buying a "mediterranean mix" of lightly marinated/pickled veggies from Costco but they are no longer carrying it. I found a recipe that duplicates it perfectly. One half cup each of sea salt and vinegar added to 12 cups of water. Bring to a boil then turn off the heat. Add carrots, celery, cauliflower, cukes, peppers, green beans, fennel, turnips, radishes.... cut into chunks. Let sit overnight then store in fridge. Ready to eat after a couple of days. Great for a relish tray.