Today in America we celebrate Veteran's Day
I have decided that before next Veteran's Day, I am going to purchase a Red Poppy teacup to use during this season of remembrance. Crown Trent makes a Poppy Chintz pattern that is nice, and Roy Kirkham produces this pattern called Monet:
Anyone who watches old war movies is familiar with the shortage of silk stockings due to rationing. If you were lucky enough to even have a pair, and unlucky enough to get a run, you darned or crocheted the hole closed.
Some women (obviously, not tea drinkers, as tea was rationed, too!) made do with leg dye made from cold tea - and painted on seams with eyebrow pencil.
Tea helped to see Britons through war. While tea rationing was not implemented during World War I, it was enforced during World War II. Strict rationing from July 1940 allowed the purchase of only 2 ounces of tea per week per person, a program that continued at various levels until 1952. Tea was still being served and acted as a morale-booster for many during the war and never a drop was wasted as leftoever tea and tea leaves were used to clean. Tea merchants banned together to help in the war effort. Continuing to serve clients, Lyons teahouse made 100 cups of tea to the pound rather than the usual 85. Twinings supplied tea for Red-Cross prisoner-of-war packages, for the Women's Voluntary Service, and for many YMCA wartime canteens. Despite the fact much of London was being bombed, tea was still served. Following the bombing of the Twinings teashop on The Strand, employees had tables set back up within hours to serve tea.
From a letter dated September 16, 1940 by an Air Raid Post worker in London:The worst thing to be brave about is the tea ration.
Everything else can be managed.++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
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Today is Remembrance Sunday in the UK
(Notice that UK poppies are different than the ones we wear here in the US)
IN FLANDERS FIELDS
In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
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Entrepreneur Robert Crawford Johnson discovered how to avoid spilling your tea while on board ship – he invented a square teapot that would not tip over!
For years designers had wracked their brains to create the ideal teapot for sea travel. What was needed was one that didn’t drip, would not overturn in rough weather and could be easily stored without chipping the spout. Rather than change the whole teapot design, other designers concentrated on one of these "defects" in their endeavours. By creating a square teapot with the spout neatly tucked away in a corner, Johnson solved all the problems at once.
He registered his Cube Teapot in 1917 but it was not put into production until 1920. Some other companies decided to muscle-in on Johnson’s brainchild by producing similar pots which were not under licence. Johnson hit back by forming Cube Teapots Ltd in 1925 under an "Accept No Imitations" marketing banner. Sales stunts included a “living window display” featuring a lady pouring the perfect cup of tea from a Cube Teapot.
Square teapots were adopted by major shipping companies such as Cunard. There are several featured in displays at Merseyside Maritime Museum – they were used on the Queen Mary and earlier Cunard ships.
Click here for some more really interesting information about the cube teapot.
Yellow Bird:
I was born and raised on the Navajo Indian Reservation, in the small town of Chinle, Arizona. The reservation is where the breathtaking unique beauty of the surrounding landscape has a common thread of poverty and disrepair running through it. It was in this setting that I, being one of eight children, was raised in a family with no father, yet never felt far from love and appreciation.
My maternal Grandmother, Yanabah, was that constant cord of concern and love that helped me to stay anchored to my culture and engaged in life. She is the one who taught me many lessons that survive with me today. It’s been my greatest desire to pass that on to my children.
One such lesson was the idea that there is always enough for everyone. She had what we might call an “abundance mentality”. After gathering the Navajo Tea plant from the high meadows of the Chuska Mountains, Yanabah would show me how to prepare the plant, dry it, and store it away until needed.
The Navajo people drink their tea for a variety of reasons, from calming an upset stomach to soothing a new mother after childbirth and on and on. I drink it for its earthy flavor and because it takes me back to an uncluttered and simple existence.
Yanabah has passed on and I miss her dearly, but one thing I know for sure: “There is enough for everyone.”
You are welcome to try my Traditional Navajo Tea (herbal tisane) that is 100% natural and was raised without any exposure to pesticides. When checking out on our website, enter “lovet3” in the coupon space and receive $2.00 off of your order from now until the end of the year.
Calling the Kettle by Dennis O'Driscoll
No matter what news breaks,
it's impossible to think straight
until the kettle has boiled.
The kettle with its metal back
strong enough to take the strain,
shoulders broad enough to cry on;
plump as the old grandmother
in her woollen layers of skirts
who is beyond surprise or shock,
who knows the value of allowing
tears to flow, of letting off steam,
of wetting the tea and,her hand patting your cheek,
insisting - as she prevails on you to sit and drink
- that things could have been much worse.
Paul Gunton spent decades working as a taster in the tea industry. He has travelled and worked in more countries than you can imagine, and has now put his memories, adventures, and stories into Travels in a Teacup, his latest book.
Paul Gunton was born in 1938 in Bromsgrove, England, setting off on his adventures at age 20. Married with two sons and two grandchildren, he now lives in the west of Ireland with his wife, continues to shave every morning with the Eclipse razor his father gave to him when he was fifteen years old and is quite content without the use of a watch, mobile telephone, computer and all associated equipment.
This book sounds like a great read and it now resides on my Amazon.com Wish List!
