When exploring the history of tea rooms, it's important to recognize the unique contributions and experiences of African Americans. Historical sources on tea rooms run by and for African-Americans were scarce, highlighting a gap in documented history.
It's easy to understand why Black women and men wanted to create their own tea rooms. Even in states without Jim Crow laws, racial discrimination was common in white-owned establishments. Starting a business was also seen as fulfilling the idea of self-help for Black individuals, as promoted by community leaders. This entrepreneurial spirit is exemplified by Mittie Burgess, who named her 1916 Lexington, KY establishment the Booker T. Washington Tea Room.
Like their white counterparts, Black tea room proprietors often held a higher social status than the average restaurant owner. These proprietors included former pharmacists and college professors. Some elite women who operated tea rooms were married to life insurance executives, ministers, doctors, and successful business men.
The Social Significance of Tea Rooms in African American Communities
Many tea rooms were clearly intended for the Black upper crust. Advertisements and news stories often used terms like "exclusive," "the elite of the city are found [here]," or "where the wealthier class of colored people dine." Mentions of table appointments and decor frequently included silver bud vases, exotic themes, and carefully coordinated color schemes.
Tea rooms in African-American communities during the teens, 20s, and 30s frequently hosted important social events. Community leaders hailed them as much-needed establishments. Groups such as the NAACP Women’s Auxiliary, Black sports writers, and the Negro Business League held luncheons and dinners at tea rooms. Red Caps from Grand Central and Penn Station hosted their peers at the Gilt Edge Tea Room during a national convention in NYC. Newspaper people from the Black newspaper The Amsterdam News celebrated a colleague’s college graduation at Harlem’s Jack and Jill Tea Room in 1928.
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Operating tea rooms profitably was challenging, especially since they were small and didn't profit from alcoholic beverages during Prohibition. Owners of African-American tea rooms seem to have worked even harder than whites to succeed. They often had longer hours, offering meals from breakfast until late at night, and were more likely to provide entertainment such as music and dancing.
The Enduring Tradition of Tea Cakes
February is Black History Month! While celebrating black people year round, this is a great excuse to educate about black history! Today we’re writing about a piece of black history in the form of a food.
To people around the world, “tea cake” means any pastry typically served with tea. But for southerners, tea cakes have a very specific meaning. In the southern United States, tea cakes are a type of cake-like cookie, with crisp golden edges and a cakey center. These treats are full of nostalgia. They go perfectly with tea - traditionally a southern sweet tea, but we could honestly eat these with any drink. While many southerners may be familiar with them, not everyone understands their role. They’ve played a part in the history of America, black history, and the role they’ve played.
Originating over 250 years ago, these cookies were a recipe passed down verbally through generations. Tea cakes are an integral part of African American food culture. They’ve been around since before the Revolutionary War. In fact, one of America’s earliest tea cakes were the Edenton Tea Party Cakes. They were served in 1774 by a group of women protesting the British tax on imported tea.
They’ve historically been called Jackson Jumbles and Democratic Tea Cakes. These powerful names are owed to the role they’ve played in significant events. From baptisms and funerals to political actions like protests, tea cakes have seen it all. They represent the effort of enslaved Africans to reproduce the baked goods (of the same name) they were asked to create for their European masters.
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When the freed slaves left the South after the Civil War, they took their recipes with them. Today, old-fashioned tea cakes are made for family reunions and holidays. However, since they’re rarely made from a written recipe, they’ve been fading out of fashion in recent years. Thankfully, some dedicated members of the older generations are fighting to keeping them alive.
Elbert Mackey, creator of The Tea Cake Project, is on a mission to keep tea cakes alive through publishing stories and testimonies of personal connections in a cookbook. Similarly, Etha Robinson, educator and culinary historian, founded the African American Food Association. Though she retired in 2007, she launched Mrs. Tea cakes started as more traditional cookies, and evolved to it’s current cakey form with the introduction of baking soda and baking powder.
In their current form, they’re somewhere in between a cake and a cookie, made with basic cupboard ingredients - ingredients even slaves had access to. They’ve been flavored with vanilla, nutmeg, or a bit of citrus, but they’re nothing like other cookies with similar flavors.
Depending on where you grew up, the tea cake might have been slightly salty, rich, or fluffy depending on whether they use lard, butter, or vegetable shortening. They can be rolled and cut into rounds, or dropped similarly to a biscuit. Sometimes they’re decorated, topped with a nut, a piece of dried fruit, or a dollop of jam.
Tea Cupcakes. Delicious and affordable!
Want to give them a try? We won’t be sharing our family recipes, but that doesn’t mean you can start to refine your own! Beat margarine at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy; gradually add the sugars, beating well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until blended after each addition. Add vanilla extract and milk, beating until blended.Combine flour, baking powder and salt; gradually add flour mixture to shortening mixture, beating at low speed until blended after each addition.Wrap dough in plastic wrap, and chill for 1 hour.Roll dough to ¼-inch thickness on floured surface. Cut out cookies with a 2 ½-inch round cutter and place 1-inch apart on parchment paper-lined baking sheet.Bake at 325◦ for 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are brown; let stand on baking sheet 5 minutes.
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The African-American Tea Ceremony
There is a theory the African American Tea Ceremony was started by house slaves during the final decades before Emancipation. The first mention of slave tea ceremonies originates from New Orleans. Many slave masters would give their old, broken china to their favored slaves. Because the slaves were serving their masters’ on Valentine’s Day they used February 15th to be their day of celebration when work was lighter and there were plenty of leftovers.
Dr. Paula Williams organized an educational experience that through centuries of history all through the cultural impact that tea ceremonies have as Black History Month concluded. The recap of the African American Tea Ceremony was an open, unique, and entertaining experience for all who were willing to attend. The tradition originates from New Orleans in the years before emancipation.
On February 15th, enslaved people were given teas, food and tableware leftover from Valentine’s Day by their masters. The slaves would request to borrow china teacups from their neighbors after noon. This request would be a covert invitation to the ceremony, which they would gather in secret to dine. After the abolishment of slavery, the tradition would evolve into gatherings held at churches and later Black-owned tea rooms.
In the early days of the Tea Ceremony, the request to borrow a cup made by the man of the house served as a covert invitation to the Tea, since the slaves were not allowed to have such gatherings. The first celebration of this allegedly ancient custom was a smash. Fifteen of my nearest and dearest attended the tea. They all loved the party and enthusiastically embraced the idea behind it; they encouraged me to make the African-American Tea Ceremony an annual tradition.
If you want to have your own celebration, feel free. Tea parties offer unique group experiences, whether you’re hosting a birthday celebration or a personal gathering. We are excited about preparing for this event and hope we can count on you to support a great cause.
