Afternoon Tea

Tea rooms contributed many changes that are still in use today.  The tables were decorated with candles and flowers.  Food was simple and wholesome, unlike the fancy French cooking served in restaurants.  Tea rooms introduced outdoors eating, welcomed both women and children into colorfully settings often decorated with a playful theme.
Hotels, department stores, and even Greenwich Village expanded the number of tea rooms around the country.  Children practiced their manners in tea rooms and those who wished to throw off the old Victorian ways read poetry aloud, played cards, and even smoked in tea rooms.

Just as milestone events had opened the doors to women business owners and workers, other public policy changes began to close them.  In 1964, the Civil Rights Act guaranteed access by all people to all public businesses.  Now women could eat in any restaurant, grill, or even a bar if they chose to do so.  More women occupied the work force and had less time to linger over a tea meal. Finally, department stores began to down-size or close along with their tea rooms.  Nonetheless the influence of tea rooms did not fade into history. Today it survives in restaurants and newly opened tea parlors, tea houses, tea spas, and tea stores nationwide for all to enjoy.