Teatime at River Lea

by Alice E. Gerard
Grand Island Dispatch, April 18, 2008

In 1840, Anna, Duchess of Bedford, invented the English custom of the afternoon tea to prevent that “sinking feeling” that people get at approximately four o’clock in the afternoon after having not eaten since breakfast. She invited friends to join her in enjoying a cup of tea and a sandwich or a scone.

Holding an afternoon tea continues to be a popular activity in England and, in the past few years, it has become a fashionable event in the United States. According to Carol Moore, vice president of the Grand Island Historical Society, the group’s annual Victorian Tea, scheduled for 2 p.m., Sunday, at River Lea, is so popular that it sold out by the end of March.

The Victorian tea will feature a special blend of tea, called Maisie’s tea, said Jane Duffy, who is co-chairing the event, along with Carolyn Dobert and Sharon Nichols. “One of our members made up the recipe for the tea. We will have scones with clotted cream and apricot preserves. We have sandwiches, always cucumber, and shrimp. We’ll also have ham salad and chicken salad.”

Dessert will feature “teapot cookies,” made by Duffy. Other desserts will include chocolate dipped strawberries and shortbread, said Dobert. She added that the food, which was all donated by friends of River Lea, will be served by docents dressed in “crisp white aprons.” Town Historian and Society member Teddy Linenfelser, who will also be in costume, will serve as hostess. She will meet partygoers at the door and will escort them to their seats.

For the first time, Dobert said, all 50 persons attending the afternoon tea will drink their tea from bone china teacups. “We’ve very excited that everyone will have a teacup. No two cups are alike; they are all different.”

In addition to the teacups, guests at the tea party will enjoy a setting that will feature lace tablecloths and a centerpiece of teapots and spring flowers at each table, Dobert said.

“The room looks very elegant,” Duffy said.

The tea party also features a program, which, this year, is “The History of Hats,” presented by Maggie Gushue. That program will be accompanied by a “fashion show of hats,” Duffy said. She added that the program will be about “hats, hats, and more hats. Hats for all heads and for all occasions.”

“Some of the hats are a real hoot, some of those hats,” Duffy said of previous Victorian teas. “We had a lovely lady, who recently passed away. She wore an old fashioned dress and a big hat. She was just lovely, and she loved to dress up and come to the tea.”

Duffy’s daughter, Andrea Switzer, who passed away on July 10, 2007, also loved hats, Duffy said. Switzer, who worked in the kitchen during the Victorian teas, had traveled to Berlin, Ohio, where she “bought a gorgeous hat and a lacy shawl to go with it, and she put that up on a hat stand to give it (the Victorian tea) atmosphere.”

Everyone attending the Victorian tea is invited to wear a hat to the event. Last year, the Red Hat Society attended the Victorian tea, dressed in their trademark red hats, Moore said.

The idea for the Victorian tea came from Duffy. “The idea was that we’ve never had a tea before. We thought that this was the perfect setting, in Lewis F. Allen’s farm. It’s next to the river, with sweeping lawns and a beautiful old Victorian house, built in the 1870s. You really like to have new things going on once in a while. I suggested having a tea, which was coming into style at the time.”