LeRoy Pennysaver & News

LE ROY PENNYSAVER & NEWS - MAY 12, 2019 by Lynne Belluscio Most everyone remembers the story of the Boston Tea Party which took place on De- cember 16, 1773. The Sons of Liberty, disguised as Mohawk Indians, under the direction of Samuel Adams, dumped 45 tons of tea into the Boston Harbor in protest of English taxes on a variety of commodities, includ- ing tea. In the meantime, Amer- icans refused to put away their tea pots and give up taking tea in the afternoon. They learned that raspberry leaves and other herbs made a reasonably good substitute. Once the Revolution was over, and American mer- chants could import tea from China, ladies could once more sit around the tea table and en- joy a cup of hot tea. Making tea was not as sim- ple as putting a tea bag in a cup of hot water, and the price of good tea, still made it unafford- able to the lower working class. In fact, having time in the after- noon to have tea was a luxury. It was not something that farm wives and women who worked in the mills were accustomed to. But certainly, women like Charlotte LeRoy, took the time in the afternoon to enjoy a cup of tea, served with a few tea biscuits or scones. The LeRoy children sometimes joined their mother for tea, and the govern- ess would prepare chamomile tea for them. It was known that Mrs. Le- Roy had tea in the back parlor of LeRoy House and that the mahogany tea table was set in the “high fashion” of the time, without a table cloth. A coaster, or place mat would be set un- der the tea pot and other dishes. The Historical Society has Mrs. LeRoy’s tea pot and her gold band sugar bowl. The tea pot is made of Britanniaware, which was developed in the 1700s as a substitute for pewter, which was considered “poor man’s silver.” Although the tea pot is dull, Mrs. LeRoy would have insist- ed that the teapot was polished to a silvery finish. The wooden handle, which was painted black to resemble ebony, protected her hands from the hot tea pot. Most women had a china or por- celain tea pot, made in England. A tea set would include a tea pot, a sugar bowl and creamer, a waste bowl and sometimes several cups and saucers. Early tea cups had no handles because they imitated the handle-less tea cups in China. (In fact, the early tea cups were imported from China and were known as Chinese Export. They had no saucers. ) But the practical En- glish potters soon attached han- dles on the tea cups, and at once the controversy of “holding the pinkie up” began. Today it is considered a social faux paux to extend the little finger. The custom is considered a sign of elitism and even the elite don’t do it. Some other curious cus- toms that have disappeared - The early saucers were not flat and shallow, but were deep and could have held sauce - -like ap- plesauce. In fact, some ladies cooled their hot tea by pouring it into the saucer, and drank from the saucer. These early saucers often do not have the little in- dentation to hold the cup. Small little “cup plates” were used to hold the cup if the saucer was being used to drink from. Some of the more collectible cup plates were made of glass at the Sandwich Glass Compa- ny in Massachusetts. Recently I learned about English porce- lain tea sets that had two cups and one saucer. One cup was for tea and the other was for coffee. Since coffee and tea were never served at the same time, and porcelain was so very expensive, these sets saved the expense of buying two saucers Tea was kept in a wooden tea caddy, that often had a lock to keep the servants from pilfer- ing the expensive tea. Caddies had two metal canisters – one for black tea and one for green tea. A small glass mixing bowl allowed the lady of the house, to create her favorite mix of green and black tea. A special tea scoop was used to mix the dry tea before it was put into the tea pot. The Historical Society also has Charlotte’s gold band sugar bowl. The sugar bowls at that time were huge, because the sugar was not granulated. The sugar had to be cut from a huge sugar cone and the lumps were put in the sugar bowl and served with sugar tongs, not a sugar spoon. Often these sugar bowls have turned brown. This is be- cause sugar cones were made in molds from hot liquid sugar. As the sugar cooled, a molas- ses-like liquid called treacle, would drain through a hole in the bottom of the mold. Some- times, not all of the treacle was drained from the sugar cone, and it would discolor the sugar bowl. The Historical Society would like to thank the folks who planned Sandra’s Tea on May 11 at the Presbyterian Church, for designating the Historical Society to be the re- cipient of their fundraising this year. The tea is held as a way to remember Sandra Jones, who believed in the importance of children’s education and the power of reading. The proceeds are being used for the Histor- ical Society’s Education fund. For the event, the Historical Society has put together an ex- hibit about tea, including Mrs. LeRoy’s teapot. After the tea, the exhibit will be on display in Mrs. LeRoy’s kitchen at LeRoy House this summer. CUSTOMIZED T-SHIRTS • HATS • JACKETS • TOWELS EMBROIDERY MAKES GREAT GIFTS FOR YOUR FAMILY • FRIENDS • ETC. 1 Church St. | LeRoy, NY 14482 | 768-2201 | www.lpgraphics.net Taking Tea