By the mid-17th Century tea was being imported from China to England through newly opened trade routes with the Orient.  

Tea was grown in China on plantations and brought by ship to England.  By the end of the 1600's, tea had crossed the Atlantic Ocean to England's colonies. 

It was not until the mid-18th century that tea became popular in the American colonies.  By the time of the American Revolution tea was the most popular beverage on England's colonies. 

In the years leading up to the Tea Tax (1773) more than 90% of the tea imported to the American colonies was smuggled, in an effort to avoid paying taxes.  Once the Tea Act was passed, the cost of British tea became less expensive than smuggled tea.  The hope was that the colonists would want to buy whichever tea was cheaper, legal or not.  As we know, this was not the case and a boycott on tea began.  By December of 1773, the colonists in Boston, with no alternative, dumped 340 chests of British East India tea into Boston Harbor, in what we now call the Boston Tea Party.

Other than tea, what other products do you think the English and Colonists were importing from China?

(Hint: Think about what you would need to serve tea.)

This cup was made in China, probably between the years 618-906.  That means this cup could be 1400 years old!  It also means that people in China have been drinking tea for much longer than Europeans and Americans.

Soon after tea arrived in Europe in the 1600s, Chinese cups and teapots made of porcelain began to arrive.  These items were easily broken and were very expensive to ship.  

The first Europeans and colonists to drink to tea were among the wealthiest. 

After inheriting his uncle's fortune in the years leading up to the American Revolution, John Hancock became the wealthiest man in Boston.  He was a merchant by trade and his ships brought goods to Boston from all over the world. 

Hancock's home on Beacon Hill was one of the grandest homes in Boston.  Unfortunately, the house was torn down in 1863.

This image shows a drawing room, or parlor, in a home that would have been similar to John Hancock's. 

Look closely at the image.

What clues tell you that this room belongs to someone wealthy?  What objects do you see that would have been imported to the colonies? 

Did you find the silver inkstand on the desk?

Did you find the porcelain vases over the fireplace?

Did you find the porcelain tea set on the table? 

What other items do you think Mrs. Allen would need to serve tea to her guests?

(Hint: Think outside the box!)

In order to serve tea, a proper table would be required.  This table, with scalloped edges folds down so that when it is not being used it can be put aside.

Tables like this could be imported from England, or bought from a colonial craftsman.  Men who made furniture like this table were called cabinet makers.

Imagine this table set with a teapot, cups and saucers, teaspoons, a sugar bowl and a creamer. 

A card table such as this could also be used to serve tea. 

This tea service, or tea set, was made by Paul Revere after the American Revolution.

A silver tea set would have been a very expensive item to own.  In fact, most colonists would not have owned anything as fancy as this.  Fancy tea sets like this one would have been used on special occasions or for special guests.

Are their items in your home that are only used on special occasions?  What kind of items are these?  Are they dishes, glasses, silverware, furniture?  Who uses these items?  What kinds of special occasions do you use them for?  Holidays?  Birthdays? 

This tea set includes a tea caddy and spoon.  The tea caddy was a storage unit for loose tea, and the small spoon shaped like a shell was used to scoop the tea into the teapot before brewing.

The tea pot's handle is made of wood, rather than silver.  Why do you think this is?

(Hint: What would happen to a silver handle when hot water is put into the pot?)

If the handle was made of silver, you would burn your hand trying to pick up the teapot to pour tea! 

Metal conducts heat, but wood does not.  Paul Revere made all his teapots with wooden handles.

Serving tea was a very precise art.  One way women learned how to properly serve tea to their guests was by playing with tea sets as little girls. 

This child's tea set was made in the 1700s.  By playing with the tea set, a young girl would become familiar not only with the ritual of tea, but also with how to handle the delicate objects in a tea service.

Tea was an important part of the lives of the American colonists before the outbreak of the American Revolution.  Though they were separated by over 3,000 miles of ocean, England's American colonists were always following the fashionable trends of their mother country.

Even after the American Revolution, tea drinking and its rituals continued in the young United States of America.