Any ideas?

In my collection of handed-down vintage linens, I've got a bevy of these things. They are fussy little linen mats, 5" x 8" (12.7 x 20.3 cm), in sets of 4. There are different designs and I'll guess that they represent different manufacturers -- some have hand embroidery on them, like this one, and others have either machine-made decoration or none. Some have light staining, like this one, but most do not. These are waaay to small to be napkins, and clearly were meant to be used flat. I can't figure out if they were meant, perhaps, to go at the top of a place setting as a place to put the dessert spoons and forks (seems unlikely, given that there aren't napkins to match?) or if perhaps they went down on a card table for a ladies' game of bridge, as a spot to put down your bridge mix or something. They seem to say "ladies' lunch" to me, or ladies, in any case -- they are all very lightweight and the designs are very feminine. Any ideas what they were for would be appreciated, before I turn them all into something else.