Couldn't let this one pass. What were they thinking of? Tea is a man's drink. Since when was it not? Maybe there was some old myth that women sat around drinking endless pots of tea and men guzzled beer. Now I've always taken it as read that tea was for all classes and all genders. You put the milk in first, or after was the seperating class factor. I drop it in after the tea is poured - that's habit and logistics of measurement.
The illustration dates from the 1920's. You have a seated man in a suit, tie and moustache being served a brew from the hands of a women. Then you get a paraphrase from Robert Burns "Epistle to Dr. Blacklock" (1789). The real verse reads somewhat different and with a different meaning
"But to conclude my silly rhyme
(I'm scant o' verse and scant o' time):
To make a happy fireside clime to weans and wife,
That's the true pathos and sublime of human life."
I'll sign off with....."The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there." Those immortal lines from the Go-Between by L.P. Hartley (1953). This is days of loose tea sold in 4 oz packets (113 gms) in that foreign country.
Illustration from People's Year Book 1926.
2 comments:
Like this one Lawrence
New aspects to the history of tea.
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