The growing middle classes imitated the rich and found that tea was a very economical way of entertaining several friends without having to spend too much money.
Pots of tea and a few small tea-time treats such as crustless sandwiches, hot buttered toast and scones, little pastries, and a cake or two were all that were required and expected.
Scottish botanist Robert Fortune goes undercover in China, learning their tea production methods, and smuggling their tea plants out of the country to enable the East India Company to set up competing tea operations in India.
By the early s, Britain had its own fleet of fast new ships. They would set off from China for Britain on the same tide and race back to collect a prize for the crew, and a supreme prize for the first tea delivered from the racing vessels. The clippers would then be towed up the River Thames by tugs and the race would be won by the first ship to hurl ashore its cargo at the docks. Tea was no longer a toddler by the time it reached Britain from China and India; when the Suez canal opened in , its journey time meant that it was a mere babe of three months when it fetched up in the basin of the Thames.
These tea rooms were, by the way, the only place where a lady could meet her friends without a chaperone without damaging her reputation. But when salesmen made their presentation to homemakers, the mothers wanted to buy the tiny sets for their children.
These tea rooms, more than any other kind, earned reputations as places where well-behaved ladies — often actually wearing hats and white gloves — enjoyed dainty luncheons. Department store tea rooms established and maintained a standard of bourgeois decorum where good manners were required and ladyhood was cherished. In the s, recipe books for afternoon tea menus begin to be published. Early s — The 3-tier afternoon tea tray emerges.
New upscale hotels and grand department stores are built with palm courts or tea salons, whose chefs formalize the afternoon tea menu with the 3 courses on tiered tray we recognize today. By the s, teabags are being commercially produced, first using gauze and later, paper. An Englishman named Richard Blechynden, a tea dealer at the St.
After he dropped some ice cubes into the brew, thirsty people came flocking. In the teens, when car travel was still primarily recreational, touring parties tended to be large, with four to seven people in one vehicle. A few carloads could fill a small tea room. Visitors were sometimes surprised when other guests bought a hooked rug from the floor or carried off the table they had been sitting at. It was a popular rendezvous for working women, shoppers, and businessmen, as well as whole families eating their evening meal.
At a time when the social norm is that a restaurant is no place for a woman, tea rooms are often run, staffed and patronized by women. For a woman to enter this business at the turn of the century, even as an unescorted patron, was a risk to her reputation.
Only a small number of tea rooms existed in the South where eating out became commonplace only after WWII except along the coastal route to Florida, which was heavily traveled by Easterners. Often these were mom-and-pop operations, with mom running the tea room while pop pumped gas. Held in ballrooms, town halls and hotels, they drew hundreds of young people on weekend afternoons.
An entrance fee of about 30 cents bought tea, sandwiches and cakes, and a chance to dance to the music of the big bands popular at the time. Those same s revelers, in their retirement, found tea dances an ideal way to kick up their heels in their golden years.
Little by little, the grande dame department store tea room all but vanished. Punch is typically made with lemon, sugar and fruit juice, but there are any number of tasty variations to this festive drink. Proud owners had their portraits painted holding a favorite cup.
Guests toted to parties their own cups in special padded cases. Before that, tea was drunk, Chinese-style, from a bowl whose saucer served as a lid to keep the beverage hot.
Tea was poured into the saucer to cool before drinking. This, of course, was exactly what the mistresses of the household did in the seventeenth and eighteenth century England. China and porcelain of this fine quality were considered far too valuable for the servants to handle, and that is probably why so much of it survives to this day. If you placed your teaspoon across your cup or left it inside, it signaled to your hostess that you had had enough tea.
By passing your cup back with the spoon on the saucer, she would understand you would like another pour. You are not allowed to move on to the cakes and muffins until you have blunted the teeth of your appetite with a sandwich. Stir clockwise so as to appease any specters. Cross all baked goods with a knife slash so as to release the devil.
The menu centered around small cakes, bread and butter sandwiches, assorted sweets, and, of course, tea. Holding a Tea Cup:. Never wave or hold your tea cup in the air. When not in use, place the tea cup back in the tea saucer. If you are at a buffet tea hold the tea saucer in your lap with your left hand and hold the tea cup in your right hand.
When not in use, place the tea cup back in the tea saucer and hold in your lap. The only time a saucer is raised together with the teacup is when one is at a standing reception. Originally, all porcelain teacups were made in China, starting around A. These small cups had no handles. Pinkie up does mean straight up in the air, but slightly tilted.
It is not an affectation, but a graceful way to avoid spills. Never loop your fingers through the handle, nor grasp the vessel bowl with the palm of your hand. Either place the iced teaspoon on the side of another plate or ask the server or hostess to remove the spoon from the table. Never leave the spoon in the glass especially when actually drinking your tea.
Milk is served with tea, not cream. Cream is too heavy and masks the taste of the tea. Although some pour their milk in the cup first, it is probably better to pour the milk in the tea after it is in the cup in order to get the correct amount. Remove the tea bag from the cup and place it on a side saucer or in a slop bowl. Do not use the string to wrap around or squeeze the tea bag. When serving lemon with tea, lemon slices are preferable, not wedges. Either provide a small fork or lemon fork for your guests, or have the tea server can neatly place a slice in the tea cup after the tea has been poured.
A Rose Garden Tea with the Queen Maintaining a tradition that began in with Queen Victoria, every year Queen Elizabeth II opens the private gardens at Buckingham Palace to host three afternoon tea parties, each attended by 8, guests respectively. Tea Sandwich Recipes Also learn how to make tea sandwich ahead of time and hints and tip on making tea sandwiches. An occasion one looks forward to with great anticipation and high expectations for a perfect experience. Get our History Newsletter.
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