The ritual of English teatime was perfected by Queen Mary, for whom it was a treasured time of day… sandwiches, cakes and biscuits were invitingly set out on gleaming silver dishes. The teapot, hot water jug, cream jug and sugar bowl were the same antique silver service that had been the favorite of Queen Victoria.
Tea drinking in America had long been associated with the elite. The beverage was imported and thus expensive, both before and after the Boston Tea Party. The tea-drinking custom was also associated with free time during the workday, refined manners, dress-up clothes, delicate food, fine china, and silver tea services and implements. By the mid-nineteenth century, the booming new silver-plating industry, plus the discovery of new silver deposits in Nevada, led to the proliferation of specialized pieces, many of them tea wares such as showy hot-water swing kettles, butter dishes, spoon holders, sugar tongs, cake baskets, and more. Fund-raising tea parties of the 19th century, fancy events in which guests wore elaborate historical costumes, had also established an association between upper classes and tea. After the centennial celebration of 1876 Philadelphia, the popularity of tea drinking rose. In the early 20th century, the very rich continued their love affair with tea, building private tea houses on their estates, in rustic twig cottages, Oriental pagodas with winged roofs, and vine-covered latticework pergolas. The elite fund-raising tradition would live on in some of the public tea rooms and tea houses of the twentieth century. But for most patrons, tea rooms were simply places to relax and have a good time. Afternoon tea was predominately a female affair, but many women were joined by husbands and male friends. Women’s exclusion from many public dining rooms in the 1900s and 1910s was undoubtedly a factor in their attraction to female-friendly tearooms. In the tea room… women were never turned away, at least not because of their gender.
Victorian Tea Time serves you afternoon tea with the finest selections of tea, delicate finger sandwiches and homemade scones with Devonshire cream and lemon curd and a variety of petite fours all made in our own Bakery.
Come visit us at Victorian Tea Time at Carmela Louise Café in Saugus. Call for a reservation at 661-263-0349.