My Country, 'Tis of Tea — The Exit Exam

Friends, I hope you all are getting ready to have a wonderful Christmas celebration with family and friends! And for those of you who have followed this series throughout 2016, I now present the final exam. I was going to make the quiz 50 questions, but my husband said that was too hard and he wouldn't do it, so I've whittled it down to 10. 

Anyone who correctly answers these 10 questions between now and 7 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 31, 2016, will be entered in a drawing for a very special gift! Can you answer them? If so, just type your answers, email them to me at angelamcrae at charter dot net (or use the button at right) and you'll be entered to win. Good luck!

1. This state was the first to grant women the right to vote, and some say a tea party helped advance the suffrage effort there.

2. This state is the home of America’s only working tea plantation.

3. A tearoom in this state served meals to scientists working on the Manhattan Project.

4. This state is the home of a town called Edenton in which one Penelope Barker and 51 other women protested the Tea Act passed by the British Parliament in 1773, an event which became known as the Edenton Tea Party. 

5. This state has a city by the name of “Tea.”

6. This state is the home of Stash Tea.

7. Luzianne Tea was founded in this state.

8. One of the most legendary tea sandwiches is the Benedictine tea sandwich, named for a famous caterer, Jennie Benedict, and it is associated with this state.

9. Lots of Depression Glass, including the Art Deco Tea Room pattern, was produced in this state.

10. In which state was Arizona Tea founded?

Tip: If you'd like an easy way to search the old blog posts to help you find the answers, click here.

My Country, 'Tis of Tea — Wyoming

Women's suffrage, a political scandal, and a world-famous national park. Who knew Wyoming would be such a great state to explore for its tea history!

Esther Hobart Morris

• Did a tea party help give women the right to vote? Wyoming was the first US state that granted women the right to vote, and Wyoming’s Esther Hobart Morris is believed by some to have helped bring this to pass. One story has it that in 1869, two candidates for the legislature were attending a tea party at the home of Mrs. Morris, and after tea was served, she asked that whoever was elected introduce a woman’s suffrage bill. Later accounts dispute that story, but there is no disputing that Mrs. Morris was quite active in the suffrage movement. In fact, soon after the bill became law, Mrs. Morris was appointed the first female justice of the peace in this country. (And I still think it likely that tea may have played a role in all this!)

• One of Wyoming's famous rock formations, the Teapot Rock in Natrona County, Wyoming, became the symbol of a bribery scandal, popularly known as the Teapot Dome Scandal, during the administration of President Warren G. Harding. All I really knew about this was that Wyoming had a famous rock formation in the shape of a teapot, and I gathered that "Teapot Dome" was once spoken in the manner in which we say "Watergate" today. Here's the Wikipedia version of the scandal: "Secretary of the Interior Albert Bacon Fall had leased Navy petroleum reserves at Teapot Dome in Wyoming and two other locations in California to private oil companies at low rates without competitive bidding. In 1922 and 1923, the leases became the subject of a sensational investigation by Senator Thomas J. Walsh. Fall was later convicted of accepting bribes from the oil companies and became the first Cabinet member to go to prison. No person was ever convicted of paying a bribe, however." (I have to wonder how someone could be convicted of accepting a bribe yet no one convicted of paying a bribe.) Numerous books have been written about Teapot Dome, and I probably need to read one or two.

• From the New York Public Library's digital archives comes this stereoscopic image of The 'Tea Kettle,' boiling hot from Mother Earth’s hidden fires, Yellowstone Park, U.S.A." in Wyoming. The image is believed to date from around 1901-1904. You can click here to see an image of Teakettle Spring that's a bit more modern in appearance.

And that, my friends, wraps up our exploration of tea in the good old US of A this year! Next week: the pop quiz. Will you be ready?

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My Country, 'Tis of Tea — Wisconsin

The state of Wisconsin wasn't much on my radar until my stepdaughter married a Wisconsin fellow. Now that Wisconsin is home to some of my family (including the two cute little grandsons I show on here occasionally), I have naturally taken an interest in all things Wisconsin, from its role as American's Dairyland and the home of the cheese heads and the Packers to, yes, their tea history!

• Tourism is a big industry in Wisconsin, and their famous Door County is a beautiful spot for a vacation. When I visited a few years ago, I was delighted to find great tea shops and gift shops and, in a most delightful surprise, The Garden Door, sponsored by the Door County Master Gardeners. This lovely public demonstration garden is filled with beautiful garden displays, including more than a few fairy garden spots with fairies who obviously enjoy their teatime!

• A home built in Whitewater, Wisconsin, in the 1920s later became the home of the Green Shutters Tea Room and Antique Shop. This vintage linen postcard is dated 1946 and shows the tearoom around that time. The home today serves as a medical clinic.

• In the April 1918 edition of the Wisconsin Library Bulletin, it was reported that in Oconto, Wisconsin, “The war tea given by the library staff was a great success and accomplished its aims. The reference room was fixed up as a tea room, with rockers, and its walls covered with war food bulletins. Decorations were baskets of flags and pink hycinths (sic). Nearly 400 women accepted the invitation and showed much interest in the recipes for war cookery. Although a great many recipes were given away, they were in greater demand than could be supplied, and it was decided to have recipes of the foods served printed in the local papers; the cooks’ names affixed to them will be recommendations in themselves." (I don't know about you, but when I hear about "war cookery," I think of World War II, not World War I!)

My Country, 'Tis of Tea — West Virginia

West Virginia is known as coal country, but could it also be known as tea country? Hmm…

• West Virginia was home to a number of glass companies during the glass boom of 1900-1940, including the West Virginia Glass Specialty Company, maker of this tea pitcher and glass set with an iridescent rose design. Most of us own a tea pitcher or two, and if you're interested in looking up some info on the great glass makers of yesteryear, a good site to visit is here, the Museum of American Glass in West Virginia.

• Yes, you can grow camellia sinensis in West Virginia. I learned that from this 2013 article in the Charleston (W.Va.) Gazette-Mail. I was happy to read that, like me, the author doesn't baby his plant at all, and it has proved quite hardy.

• In 1920, a West Virginia man became the new general manager of Thomas J. Lipton, Inc.  in the US. According to the book "Coffee and Tea Industries and the Flavor Field, Volume 43," Frederick W. Nash, who became the general manager on Sept. 1, was a man who, "becoming self-supporting at 17 … paid his own way through Wesleyan College, West Virginia, by teaching and secretarial work in school terms, and by selling subscription books and life insurance during vacations. Going to New York, soon after leaving school in 1897, he got his first position with B. Fischer & Co. as salesman of coffee, tea and spices to the grocery trade of Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia." Nash had also served in the Philippines with the Fourth U.S. Cavalry and helped organize the American public school system there.

My Country, 'Tis of Tea — Washington

Washington is a state that's famous for its coffeehouses, but happily, it appears that there have long been some tea lovers in Washington as well.

• The Culbertson Tea Room in Spokane, Washington, was the place to dine for ladies shopping at Culbertson's Department Store. I don't really know much about Culbertson's, and an article in the Spokesman-Review said only that "Culbertson’s, which carried everything from furniture to groceries, was deep in debt when the Depression hit and went into bankruptcy in 1930." That may be, but the place sure looked swell at the time this postcard was sent in 1919, didn't it? The sender of the postcard called this tearoom the "best place in the city to eat."

• Judith's Tea Room and Rose Café once was a favorite of tea-goers in Poulsbo, Washington. I learned of the tearoom when I found this cookbook on eBay years ago, and I was inspired to make this soup as a result. It doesn't appear that this tearoom is in operation any more, but I enjoyed finding that another blogger shared her memories of this Washington tearoom (and a delicious-sounding cake recipe) here.

• Are you a fan of women's history? If so, you might enjoy watching the video of Susan Butruille's 2007 (I think) lecture at the Washington State Library, "Tea, True Womanhood, and Uppity Women." I liked this quote of hers at the beginning of the lecture: "Historically, when women have gotten together over tea, radical things happened." (Hint: The lecture, which is divided into four different segments and totals about an hour, is accessible here. If you want to skip all the welcome remarks, start at about the 6:30 point on Part 1.)

My Country, 'Tis of Tea — Virginia

My knowledge of Virginia is quite limited, having visited only once, years ago when I was a journalist and attended the famed American Press Institute in Reston, Virginia. I enjoyed mingling with the journalistic bigwigs there (especially some editors from the Washington Post and the Detroit Free Press, as I recall), but the main thing I remember was the inside of the conference hotel—which probably isn't the best place to get an accurate image of any city or state. So instead, I found a few tea tidbits to give me a better idea of Virginia's history.

• Hot Springs, Virginia, is legendary for its waters, and President Thomas Jefferson visited for three weeks in 1818 to enjoy the hot springs there. This image I found on the Library of Congress website, circa 1910-1920, shows "Five O'Clock Tea at the Club House, Virginia Hot Springs." Doesn't that look like a beautiful place to enjoy tea?

• The Miller & Rhoads English Tea Room was once a gathering place for shoppers in Richmond, Virginia. Although the store closed in 1990, I was glad to learn that some of its recipes have been preserved, and when I was researching "Dainty Dining" some years ago, I took great delight in rediscovering the tearoom's famous Chocolate Silk Pie. (The recipe is here.)

• Another charming Virginia tearoom was the Ella Cinders Tea Room in Ashland, Virginia. This old postcard is dated 1947, and the back of the card tells us what sort of establishment this was: "Recommended by AAA for past nineteen years. Delicious balanced meals served in an atmosphere of quiet refinement. Ultra modern Guest rooms, Private baths." I like "quiet refinement," don't you? And those awnings would have charmed me the minute I saw them!

My Country, 'Tis of Tea — Vermont

Vermont. Hmmm. What do we know about Vermont? It's the home of maple syrup, Ben and Jerry's, and the famous Vermont Country Store. But does Vermont care for tea?

• The historic home where the Vermont Constitution was framed and adopted in 1777, the Old Constitution House in Windsor, was originally a tavern, later a tearoom, and today is a site that's on the National Register of Historic Places. According to a Vermont state website, "The Old Constitution House features period rooms that reflect its use as an early tavern. A large interpretive area in the early 20th century tea room examines the events surrounding the signing of the Vermont Constitution. The collection at the Old Constitution House contains many pieces donated by area residents and the local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.” Sounds like a great place to visit if I'm ever in Vermont!

• This vintage postcard from my tearoom postcard collection shows the Maple Cabin Tea Room in St. Johnsbury, Vermont. I'm glad that at least one tearoom in Vermont had "maple" in the name, and no, I wasn't crazy to associate maple syrup with Vermont, which, it turns out, is the nation's leading producer of maple syrup. (I love maple syrup. And maple candy. And maple-flavored teas. You get the idea.)  I also love that this tearoom, shown circa 1941, looks as if it were made of Lincoln logs.

• Perhaps one of the most clever tea products to be associated with a particular state is "VerMints." I first came across these Vermont-made mints years ago and have seen them in quite a few stores since that time. According to the history on the company's website, "Born in the Green Mountain State in 2000, VerMints began humbly on a stovetop in a small kitchen in Bellows Falls. The goal from the get-go was simple: Make a simple and true mint. All flavor; no funky stuff." You can click here to find out where your closest retailer is.

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My Country, 'Tis of Tea — Utah

I must admit that the thought of unearthing a few tea facts about Utah made me a little nervous. Utah is, after all, the home of Mormonism, and Mormons don't drink caffeine, right? Well, as we say, "It's complicated." What I learned is that some Mormons can and do drink caffeine, while others believe it's best to avoid all hot drinks, including tea and coffee. (Go here to see what NPR had to say about the matter earlier this year.) 

• This 1914 sheet music for a song called "At Our Tango Tea" is from the musical "The Girl from Utah." This Edwardian-period musical was about an American girl who ran away to London to avoid having to become the newest wife of a wealthy Mormon man. Here are a few lyrics from the musical, and I'll let you decide whether Broadway needs to resurrect this one. 

“At Our Tango Tea Last Week”

"Ev’rything is Tango in this world of sin;

We have Tango eatables and Tango drops of gin.

Last week at our church we had a Tango Tea affair,

Ev’rybody filled their Tango Little Marys there.

Listen, brethren all and in a world I’ll tell to you a few things that occur’d.

Chorus:

At our Tango Tea last week,

Ev’rything was novel and unique.

Little Missis Jones wore a Tango dress.

What you couldn’t see of her of course you had to guess.

Miss Lucinda Greene did the Tango bow,

Someone caught her bending and she’s with the angels now.

We had Tango tea, and without a doubt,

It was so very weak it couldn’t Tango thro’ the spout.”

(Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, Dhatfield)

• Ever heard of the "Utah teapot"? Wikipedia says it is "a 3D computer model that has become a standard reference object (and something of an in-joke) in the computer graphics community. It is a mathematical model of an ordinary teapot of fairly simple shape, that appears solid, cylindrical and partially convex." The Utah teapot, or Newell teapot, dates to 1975 and gets its name from the fact it was created by a British-born computer graphics researcher at the University of Utah, Martin Newell. He needed a simple mathematical model of a familiar object, and his wife suggested their tea service since they were having tea at the time. It's nice to know that tea has influenced even the world of  computer graphics! (I wonder if we'll be able to print one of these teapots anytime soon?)

• Apparently somebody in Utah was drinking tea back in 1904. I found this advertisement in the January 9, 1904 issue of the Salt Lake Tribune, and it advertises Tree Tea, a Japanese tea and "the tea all Utah drinks." Who knew?

My Country, 'Tis of Tea — Texas

"Come and listen to my story about a man named Jed, a poor mountaineer, barely kept his family fed, and then one day he was shootin' at some food, and up through the ground come a bubbling crude. Oil, that is. Black gold. Texas tea." I'll bet many of you know exactly which classic TV show that came from, don't you? But it's another kind of Texas tea that's on my mind today, as you'll see!

• "Texas Tea" is also the name of a January piece in the Austin Chronicle online (screen grab shown above) that explored the efforts of three local tea purveyors to source quality teas. The line that most intrigued me was this: "For those interested in a sustainably grown, energy-boosting beverage – and who aren't too hung up on vernacular – the most local 'tea' available to Texans comes from the native yaupon holly tree." Click here to read the article for yourself.

• As my Texas-born brother-in-law is fond of reminding me, everything is bigger and better in Texas. Perhaps that explains why, to my knowledge, Texas is the only state that has ever had a whole magazine devoted to the topic of tea! I can't remember when I first learned about this magazine, but I have collected several issues over the years and think somebody ought to franchise the concept and see that there's a similar product in every state. My tea friend Janet Pool in Texas has written for this magazine for years, and it's now available in an online version here.

• Want a fun twist on tea bread? Try the Banana Apricot Nut Bread from a Texas tearoom! In 2013, I assigned myself the challenge of trying a different tearoom recipe every week, and one of my favorites for the year was this delicious variation on a classic tea bread that I found in "The Peach Tree Tea Room Cookbook" by the late Cynthia Collins Pedregon of Fredericksburg, Texas. Copies are easy to find online, and by the time I got a copy, it was a 2005 edition and the book was in its ninth printing, with some 59,500 copies in print already. (Even the tearoom cookbook runs are bigger in Texas, apparently.) Click here for the recipe.

P.S. Click here if you want to hear that old TV theme song that mentions "Texas tea."

My Country, 'Tis of Tea — Tennessee

I realized this week that I really don't know too much about my neighbor to the north, Tennessee, but I did manage to gather a few tea-related Tennessee tidbits that I thought were interesting, and I hope you will, too!

• The Woman's Exchange of Memphis, a group founded in 1885, has an award-winning tearoom that is still going strong today.  I love to read old tearoom cookbooks, and in this one, I found the first (and only) pimiento cheese recipe I'd seen that calls for melting the cheese. (It was delicious!) Go here if you'd like to see what the Woman's Exchange is up to today. While it's not an English-afternoon-tea type of tearoom, it still sounds like a lovely place to visit one day!

• The M & O Tea Room in Gatlinburg (postcard circa 1940) was a tearoom and craft shop that billed itself as "a good place to rest or play!" Like a lot of southerners, I grew up going to Gatlinburg, Tenn. on family vacations. For that reason, I was intrigued when I found this vintage postcard for the M & O Tea Room and Craft Shop and The Rossmore in Gatlinburg. The back of the card is blank, and I wasn't able to find out anything about this tearoom except that it was in operation around 1940 and some local weavers sold their wares here. Newer hotels had come along by the time I was a child visiting Gatlinburg, but I'll bet the M & O served many a happy tourist in the tearoom in its heyday.

• It's closed now, but one of my all-time favorite tearooms was Miss Mable's Tea Room in Dickson, Tennessee. I visited with a girlfriend more than a decade ago now, and to this day I can remember the beautiful tearoom, the exceptional service, and the delicious food including some scones that remain among the best I have ever eaten. Happily I have some cookbooks from the tearoom to help me keep those memories near! I was dismayed this week to find that I apparently never put my Miss Mable's photos in my official tearoom scrapbook. I know they're somewhere in all the boxes of paper and photos I have squirreled away, but meanwhile, my friend Phyllis blogged about Miss Mable's here. (I had forgotten about the PT Cruiser with "Driving Miss Mable" written across the back!) I think there's a lot of truth to that old saying about how people may forget what you've said to them but they will never forget how you made them feel. Miss Mable's made me "feel" as if I were family, and I'll never forget that wonderful experience!

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My Country, 'Tis of Tea — South Dakota

Earlier this year, I came across a book that mentioned a town called "Tea, South Dakota." Now I thought that was just a fun bit of fiction until I learned that there really is a town called Tea, South Dakota!

• If there was ever a place that begged a visit from tea lovers, it would surely have to be Tea, South Dakota.  I found this community guide to the town online, and I was just fascinated by all the fun names. You can read about the town in the Tea Weekly newspaper, and anyone with small children might want to look into MyTea Tykes or Tea Tots, two local childcare facilities. I for one would enjoy wearing a T-shirt in support of a child playing Tea Soccer, and I know I would enjoy a visit to the Tea Area Historical Society. The best time to go to Tea, clearly, would be the third weekend in June, when Teapot Days are held, an event which includes the crowning of Ma and Pa Teapot.

• In June of 2006, Tea, South Dakota, was honored in the US Senate upon the occasion of its 100th anniversary.  If you have difficulty reading the above image from the Congressional Record, the part I was most interested in was this: "Tea’s unusual name was discovered when the community was asked to submit 10 town names to the Postal Service but only 9 could be decided upon. A recess was called during a town meeting at which tea was served. Someone suggested the name 'Tea' be added to the list. Shortly after, this tight-knit community was informed that their new name would be Tea. Tea was officially incorporated in 1906."

 

• In 1885, the Ladies of the Presbyterian Aid Society in Woonsocket, South Dakota, gave a benefit Tea Party at the church. This bit of ephemera comes from the Library of Congress, and I love how it says, "A Good Supper will be served from 6 to 9 o'clock" and that afterward, there would be "Music, Charades, and Magic Music." Can anyone tell what that last handwritten line says? I'm thinking it reads, "Proceeds for Mr. Currant." Just goes to show that benefit teas have been around for a while!

My Country, 'Tis of Tea - South Carolina

Some weeks this year, I've found myself worrying I wouldn't be able to find enough tea-related things to say about a state. That certainly wasn't the case with South Carolina, which I am inclined to rate the number one state in the US in its tea importance. Why?

• Pinehurst Tea Gardens in Summerville, South Carolina, is said to be one of the first places tea was grown here in the US.  According to the Charleston Museum, Dr. Charles Shepard founded Pinehurst in 1888, near the site of a tea planting at what is now Middleton Place, and his oolong won first prize at the 1904 World's Fair. When he died in 1915, the tea plantation declined, but cuttings from his plants "were used in South Carolina’s third and fourth attempts to commercially grow tea. Both the American Tea Growing Company (eventual failure) and the Charleston Tea Plantation (located on Wadmalaw Island in Charleston County and currently operated by R.C. Bigelow Tea) propagated plants from Pinehurst."

• Wadmalaw Island, South Carolina, is today the home of the Charleston Tea Plantation, whose delicious teas are part of the Bigelow family of teas.  I know many of my tea friends have had the pleasure of visiting the Charleston Tea Plantation, as I have, and I definitely recommend a visit. Go here to learn more.

Click here to watch video on "The Birthplace of Sweet Tea"

• Summerville, South Carolina, is the home of the Sweet Tea Trail—but not without a bit of controversy. There's a little brew-haha that's been simmering up in South Carolina for a while now. I remember when a friend told me a year or so ago that a mutual friend who lives in Summerville claimed that Summerville was "the birthplace of sweet tea." "Huh?" I thought. "Where'd she get that?" Apparently, it all begins with an Azalea magazine article in Spring 2010 that shared the claim that Summerville is the birthplace of sweet tea. Now I loved my visit to Summerville a while back and found the town absolutely charming, but … birthplace of sweet tea? Evidence, please. Later, Charleston City Paper published a piece saying the birthplace-of-sweet-tea claim is bogus. I rather agree with that article's author, who says, "I do not suspect any untoward motives on anyone's part. It's just a case of journalists trying to tell a story in the simplest, most compelling way they can and occasionally getting a few facts wrong. But you can see how our love for a good yarn slowly but surely glosses over any inconvenient details." This article goes on to provide some evidence that "Yankees were drinking sweetened iced tea as far back as the 1860s, two decades before Dr. Shepherd (sic) plucked his first tea leaf in Summerville." If you're at all interested in US tea history (whether or not you're actually interested in sweet tea), I think you'll find these articles most interesting. I'm going to be busy for weeks trying to confirm some of the info in that video and both articles!

My Country, 'Tis of Tea — Rhode Island

Rhode Island is a state that means two things in my mind: Gilded Age mansions and a famous manufacturing center for costume jewelry. Any tea connections in Rhode Island? I found a few!

• Rhode Island is well known for its production of costume jewelry. When I first started collecting tea-themed jewelry, I was pleased to learn how much of it had been produced with teapots and teacups as part of the design. JJ or Jonette was a jewelry company in Providence, Rhode Island, that made both the bracelet and earrings above. The company's owners, the Lisker brothers, got the name by combining the name of their parents, John and Etta, thus the "Jonette" name. Rhode Island continues to be known for its jewelry manufacturing today.

Photographs in the Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.

• One of Newport, Rhode Island's most famous Gilded Age homes, Marble House, has its own Chinese teahouse on the property. According to Wikipedia, Marble House was built between 1888 and 1892 for Alva and William Kissam Vanderbilt. When she divorced her husband in 1895, Alva Vanderbilt actually owned the home, which had been a 39th birthday gift to her. She remarried and relocated down the street, and when her second husband died, she reopened Marble House and added the teahouse, which was the site of some women's suffrage rallies. Oh, if those walls could talk!

• A teahouse was also featured at the Berwind Estate in Newport, Rhode Island. Now who wouldn't have enjoyed being invited to tea in this teahouse? This linen postcard was mailed in 1942 and says, "Hello Tootsie. I am having a good time. Wish you were here too. I went swimming in the ocean, it's fun. Will be seeing you soon. Rita." Lucky Rita! (And if you're curious, as I was, here's a more modern photo of the teahouse, an image I found on Pinterest.)

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