The graceful ritual of afternoon tea is one of life’s most
rewarding nicities. Whether it be a romantic tea for two, a genteel gathering of dear
friends, or the cozy privacy of tea for one, taking tea is the most special or circumstance,
a gracious, opportunity to gently sweep aside the demands of everyday life in favor of
more indulgent pleasures. Indeed, every aspect of the tea table’s unique ambience
establishes it as a world apart from the so-called real one. The perfect hostess spares no
effort to create fanciful bite-size refreshments, each a perfect tea companion. As the tea
kettle whistles its cheery song, a favourite teapot resides hospitably amidst a welcoming
array of fragile porcelain teacups. Tea is poured, again and again, seemingly endless
fragrant cups of it. Departure lies in the distance.
"Won’t you stay a little longer," the hostess urges,
"and have another cup of tea?"
Tea in the Boudoir
Tea drinkers have Anna Duchess of Bedford (1788-1861) to
thank for instituting the delightful ritual of afternoon tea around 1840.
Necessity was the mother of invention. Aristocrats of the day
ate an early breakfast, a scant midday snack, and dinner around eight o’clock. Not
surprisingly, the hugry duchess experienced a late afternoon "sinking feeling"
To combat it, she slipped into her boudoir around five o’clock to indulge in a pot of tea
with small cakes and sandwiches. Soon she was sending cards to her fashionable friends,
urging them to share this plesant interlude.
One Lump of Two?
When sweetening tea became fashionable in the late 17th
century, sugar bowls and tongs became part of the tea equipage. Sugar was sold in large
paper-wrapped cones that required special tools for chopping of chunks and for nipping
them into more wieldy lumps.
In 1877 sugar merchant Henry Tate introduced neatly cut cubes
of sugar. By the 1920’s it was fashionable to embellish sugar to great effect with pretty
frosting flowers.
Lovely Linens
Crisply starched fine linens add to the magic of tea parties. For
generations perfect hostesses tucked away their treasured tablecloths, doilies, and
napkins in linen cupboards made fragrant with lavender sachets. Small napkins initially
used at the court of Louis XIV when coffee or hot chocolate was served, were being
called tea napkins by the late 1600’s. The luncheon napkins used at today’s teas came
into fashion in the early 1900’s.