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Hi there. I am with the GFWC Hollywood Women's Club in Hollywood,FL. We are holding a Vintage old Florida Tea Party, just as the ladies who started our club in 1922 would have done it. The will be fund raiser to restore our old clubhouse. I am responsible for the table set-up/decorating and finding the appropriate props,dishes and linens etc.. used in Florida at that time. Can anyone direct me to what was used and where I can obtain the items needed to pull this off without breaking the bank? Nanette S. nanettesw@comcast.net
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What a wonderful website! The tea rooms featured on this web site have been the inspiration for my tea room. My tea room, Camellia Rose, is located in Plant City, Florida in the downtown historic district. We completely renovated the historic building. The building was originally the Bank of Plant City and built in 1919. This building holds many memories for the native Plant City residents. After the bank closed, many other businesses occupied the building. One of which was White's Central Pharmacy, which had a soda fountain. Many of our guests have memories of drinking their Cherry Smash at that fountain. I want our guests to feel like they are stepping back in time to the era of the bank building. Our decor is a reflection of that period. My servers dress in period attire. Our menu features the homemade soups, garden fresh salads, sandwiches, desserts, and of course the traditional afternoon tea. Our guests have described my tea room in many wonderful words. One of my favorite descriptions is from a lady battling cancer, we are her "Haven of Rest". We celebrate Friendship, Fine Teas, and the traditional English Tea time with a southern flair! Please visit us sometime. Camellia Rose Tea Room & Gifts 120 N. Collins Street Plant City, Florida 33563 813.659.TCUP(8287) Or visit us on the web at www.CamelliaRose.com Sincerely, Ellen & Staff
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HI. I REMEMBER THE FAMOUS SKYLINE RESTAURANT OVERLOOKING THE ILLINOIS RIVER ON THE 7TH FLOOR OF THE BLOCK & KUHL DEPARTMENT STORE HEADQUARTERED IN PEORIA ILLINOIS. BLOCK & KUHL WAS THE LARGEST DEPARTMENT STORE CHAIN (21 STORES)IN ILLINOIS OUTSIDE OF CHICAGO.
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Oh these places are heavenly, the old tearooms. I can't express how miserable I would be when I'd go to places that called themselves "tearooms" only to find horribly prissy, fussy furniture and ornaments of the "teddy bear in a scratchy synthetic lace dress" type. Ugh! How twee! I was looking for the fun tearooms of Nancy Drew fame. The places where the wild girls of 1902 hung out while comparing the height of their pompadours and chewing sen-sen. Real tearooms. If I had one of my own I think I'd decorate it with old Ouija boards, and Edwardian Halloween---from the days when it was spelled Hallowe'en---decorations and have the servers wear smocks of various colors. There'd be fortune telling cups for tea and coffee and fun pastries (good ones---not that run of the mill stuff every bookstore coffee shop carries) and meat pasties, and croque monsieur, and roast tom turkey and all the trimmings! Ooooh, and we could have seance nights, and host ghost hunter lectures, and all the music would be from the early 20th century.
A big hooray to someone who really "gets" what the tea rooms from the teens and 1920s were all about! -- JW
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I opened my Tearoom - Tea At 1024 in Hawaii in 1999 as an addition to my clothing boutique. The place exploded with excitment. It is now my primary source of business. The journey in establising my tearoom has been great. I have the best customers and their loyalty in sharing my dream place with the friends and family is great. Visit our website is www.teaat1024.net
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Until I read your book (Tea at the Blue Lantern Inn), I didn't realize the former restaurant I most miss in the town where I live was a kind of tea room. It was run by two women, one of whom trained many of the good bakers still working around here. You can still get good coffee and baked goods, since it's a college town, but the new places lack what the tea room had: salads that add up to an elegant, light, main course. There's also just something rare these days about a simple chicken salad, tuna salad stuffed in a fresh tomato on a bed of lettuce, or a great, nutty Waldorf salad. Plus, this place had a restful atmosphere, access to outdoor dining, a beautiful view instead of a busy street -- all of which is missing in the coffee shops that replaced it. -- MBB
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I love the old 1920s multi-color look, so I would buy old tables and chairs and paint them all different colors. I would decorate the walls with the hooked rugs I've made (that are currently stuffed into a closet). I would feature delicious little sandwiches and salads, but would never use lettuce out of a bag. Everything would be homemade. I would try to attract all kinds of people, men as well as women, oddball characters. I might make a sideline of baked goods but I don't think I would sell gifts. I'd want it to be a very lively place, sort of a coffee house atmosphere. Maybe I'd host poetry readings, jazz combos. -- JW
