Hello dear blogging friends! Welcome to Thursday Tea Things And Talk.
I am so glad you have joined me. I have loved tea things since I remember. I have shred before, but I think I got my love of taking tea and tea related things from my Nan...my English grandmother, or Nana, Emma Bridgewater nee Rice. Here photo is there on the right sidebar. We always had afternoon tea when she was around, and it was then over the teacups that she told me stories of growing up in the late Victorian and Edwardian era in England before she came to live in the USA with her husband George Bridgewater and my mother and aunt. She had lovely stories about the reign of Queen Victoria, various celebrations, customs and activities. Sigh...I think of her often...especially when I have a cup of tea...I still have many she gave me when I was 16 that I treasure.
My tea related item today is....the humble tea towel. I have a huge stack of them in the closet, and rotate them in and out of the kitchen. Tea towels originated as just pieces of absorbent cloth to dry the crocks...dishes...with. But for home making women, a boring strip of cloth, often made out of the remnants of sheets or grain sacks just wasn't nice enough. Tea towels were embellished with embroidery and trimmings, and when the use of printed cloth became popular, prints were used as well.
Then with the mid Victorian era, something new happened. The Victorians were great travelers and explorers. And whilst souvenirs had always been brought home from the Grand Tour of the continent by the wealthy, the Industrial revolution freed everyday working families to have enough leisure and money to also take trips...albeit shorter and closer to home than the Grand Tour. They went to Brighton and Blackpool and Inverness, St Ives and Bath. And besides the crested and souvenir china they brought home, they also brought home souvenir tea towels to ad an expensive, portable as well as bright and cheerful souvenir of their day out. The tea towel reminded them of the jaunt each time it was used to dry the tea things. Bliss!
The tradition continues to this day with the only change being the change from linen to cotton. Tea towels have been issued for most major occasions. Below is for the 1981 Royal Wedding of Charles and Diana.
The tea towel below marks the 100th anniversary in 1978 of Lady Margaret Hall, the first ladies college at Oxford.
Tea towels are also the recorders of social trends and styles. I love this retro design from the 1950s in Poland:
And from the 1950s in the USA when colonial, Early American or Pennsylvania Dutch was such a design trend:
And German housewives were just as houseproud. The Victorian era German women invented the "overtowel". The industrious and resourceful ladies took a towel and embroidered it, and used it for "best" to cover the old dingy and stained eveyday dish cloths and dish towels if company was expected. Here is a late Victorian example. There was some use of overtowels also in the USA Pensylvania Dutch ares of the country as the German immigrants of the 19th century brought the practice with them, which fit in well with the so called red work, or red on white embroidery that was popular in the US. This cloth or overtowel has both cross stitch and a running stitch and a silk embroidered ribbon, which was an expensive, "store bought" embellishment.
Tea towels are still marvelously decorative. A discussion recently on my facebook page revolved around uses for them so they didn't just live in the closet. The suggestions were myriad, from framing them to hanging them on a line strung from the ceiling to utilizing the rungs of an old ladder leaning or mounted on the wall. A fun thing to think about. All of these are currently available at Antiques And Teacups. Just click on the photos for more info.So...don't underestimate the power of a "cheap and cheerful" decorating accent...the tea towel!
I am joining the blogs below. It's always so much fun to see the wonderful things on the blogs! And please link your tea related post. I would be honored! Have a wonderful weekend, and have a cup of tea with a friend!
I am so glad you have joined me. I have loved tea things since I remember. I have shred before, but I think I got my love of taking tea and tea related things from my Nan...my English grandmother, or Nana, Emma Bridgewater nee Rice. Here photo is there on the right sidebar. We always had afternoon tea when she was around, and it was then over the teacups that she told me stories of growing up in the late Victorian and Edwardian era in England before she came to live in the USA with her husband George Bridgewater and my mother and aunt. She had lovely stories about the reign of Queen Victoria, various celebrations, customs and activities. Sigh...I think of her often...especially when I have a cup of tea...I still have many she gave me when I was 16 that I treasure.
My tea related item today is....the humble tea towel. I have a huge stack of them in the closet, and rotate them in and out of the kitchen. Tea towels originated as just pieces of absorbent cloth to dry the crocks...dishes...with. But for home making women, a boring strip of cloth, often made out of the remnants of sheets or grain sacks just wasn't nice enough. Tea towels were embellished with embroidery and trimmings, and when the use of printed cloth became popular, prints were used as well.
Then with the mid Victorian era, something new happened. The Victorians were great travelers and explorers. And whilst souvenirs had always been brought home from the Grand Tour of the continent by the wealthy, the Industrial revolution freed everyday working families to have enough leisure and money to also take trips...albeit shorter and closer to home than the Grand Tour. They went to Brighton and Blackpool and Inverness, St Ives and Bath. And besides the crested and souvenir china they brought home, they also brought home souvenir tea towels to ad an expensive, portable as well as bright and cheerful souvenir of their day out. The tea towel reminded them of the jaunt each time it was used to dry the tea things. Bliss!
The tradition continues to this day with the only change being the change from linen to cotton. Tea towels have been issued for most major occasions. Below is for the 1981 Royal Wedding of Charles and Diana.
The tea towel below marks the 100th anniversary in 1978 of Lady Margaret Hall, the first ladies college at Oxford.
Tea towels are also the recorders of social trends and styles. I love this retro design from the 1950s in Poland:
And from the 1950s in the USA when colonial, Early American or Pennsylvania Dutch was such a design trend:
And German housewives were just as houseproud. The Victorian era German women invented the "overtowel". The industrious and resourceful ladies took a towel and embroidered it, and used it for "best" to cover the old dingy and stained eveyday dish cloths and dish towels if company was expected. Here is a late Victorian example. There was some use of overtowels also in the USA Pensylvania Dutch ares of the country as the German immigrants of the 19th century brought the practice with them, which fit in well with the so called red work, or red on white embroidery that was popular in the US. This cloth or overtowel has both cross stitch and a running stitch and a silk embroidered ribbon, which was an expensive, "store bought" embellishment.
Tea towels are still marvelously decorative. A discussion recently on my facebook page revolved around uses for them so they didn't just live in the closet. The suggestions were myriad, from framing them to hanging them on a line strung from the ceiling to utilizing the rungs of an old ladder leaning or mounted on the wall. A fun thing to think about. All of these are currently available at Antiques And Teacups. Just click on the photos for more info.So...don't underestimate the power of a "cheap and cheerful" decorating accent...the tea towel!
I am joining the blogs below. It's always so much fun to see the wonderful things on the blogs! And please link your tea related post. I would be honored! Have a wonderful weekend, and have a cup of tea with a friend!
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