The Surprising Impact of Tea Rooms

By Jennie Shurtleff

The 1920s were the heyday of jazz bands, bootleggers, flappers, flagpole sitters, and… tea rooms. While tea rooms may conjure up the image of wealthy elderly ladies, leisurely sipping tea in the afternoon, the reality was quite different.

Tea rooms ran the gamut from elegant and upscale to artsy and eclectic, depending on the tastes and inclination of the tea room’s owner. In general they were small, quiet middle class establishments that served light meals. Despite, their everyday domestic appearance and feel, however, they were both unique and radical because they were open to women as well as largely owned and operated by women — two factors which helped to foster a feeling of female independence in the early 20th-century.

So, how did tea rooms begin?

In both the United States and in Europe, in the late 1800s and early 1900s, a woman often found herself excluded from affordable eating establishments like tavens and hotels. In some cases, she would be allowed into these eateries, but only if she were accompanied by a man.  This was supposedly for the protection of her reputation as many of the less pricy eateries had men as their main clientele, and there was the perception that not just food was on the menu. Consequently, women stayed at home and were kept in relative isolation in the domestic sphere, while men (at least white men) were allowed to freely go to public places to eat and socialize.  

Starting around 1910 in America, things began to change. Part of this change was caused by a growing sense of women’s independence. Many women, including widows and female teachers in need of supplementing their summer income, were looking for ways to start their own businesses. Opening and running a tea room offered such an opportunity. A tea room could be started very simply, even by using a room of one’s own living quarters or an outdoor garden. For advertising, a simple sign in the window often sufficed. The tea rooms were usually intentionally decorated to feel homey with hand embroidered linens and runners, candles and flowers on the table, and other décor. Although the women running these businesses were entrepreneurs, they were still in their homes, cooking and serving as they normally did. Since they were still navigating in a domestic sphere, their work was viewed as socially acceptable and didn’t seriously challenge middle class views and values.

A second reason for the growth of tea rooms appears to be tied to the growing popularity of automobiles among the middle class and the huge expansion of the national roadways. In the fourteen-year period between 1911 and 1925, the number of cars in the world skyrocketed from around 600,000 to 17.5 million – an increase of about 29 fold. In the 1920s, self-starting cars became more common. No longer did cars have to be hand cranked to get them running. This made the vehicles easier to use for many women, which, in turn, led to more women traveling independently. Since these women were not welcomed at many of the traditional restaurants that they found in their travels, tea rooms — which were generally owned, operated, and staffed by women — provided a socially-acceptable and welcoming place for women travelers to go.

Lastly, in 1920 the 18th Amendment, that had been ratified in 1919, took effect. This amendment prohibited the manufacture and sale of alcohol. Many of the existing restaurants closed their doors, as they were not able to turn a profit without selling alcohol.  The tea rooms found their niche. Most tea rooms were patronized by the middle class, particularly women, who tended to favor prohibition and were in search of a light, simple home-cooked meal served with tea or other non-alcoholic beverages. Things like salads and sandwiches were commonly featured on tea room menus. These tea rooms flourished in the void left by the other establishments’ closings. However, in turn, they would find themselves phased out by the mid-20th century with the rise of fast-food restaurants, that provided quick service and sustenance for the casual guest or traveler on the go.

Books and articles on the tea rooms of the early 20th century are quick to point out that the name “tea room” is actually a misnomer. While some tea rooms did initially focus on serving tea in the latter part of the afternoon along with a meal, most of these businesses soon found that these late afternoon teas were not sufficient to ensure a profit, so most evolved into restaurants that focused instead on serving lunch (and often dinner). The focus was generally on food, not the hot beverage. Many tea rooms also expanded to offer lodging as well as trinkets, handicrafts, and antiques for sale either in separate shops or integrated into the decor of the tea rooms.

Given that few women attended college to get business degrees, many women received their inspiration and guidance on how to start tea rooms by reading articles published in women’s magazines, such as the Woman’s Home Companion. For women living in rural areas, these articles offered advice encouraging them to either use their own home, or to rent or borrow derelict buildings and fix them up. Thus, as part of tea room initiatives, many old mills and other structures were repurposed and gentrified. This, in turn, resulted in many rural areas becoming more attractive to the tourists who had begun to flock to these places as bucolic destinations. While many tea rooms were fixed up, others were operated while retaining their rustic nature, which in some cases meant without electricity or even running water.

Woodstock was one of the many places in which tea rooms, or tea houses, flourished. In the early 20th century, there was a public tea room located in the White Cupboard Inn Annex (the former Park Cottage Hotel), located at 7 The Green. There was also one located at 17 Mountain Avenue, in what is known as M. Myers House. Mrs. Mary Paige Billings lived at the home with her husband, who was a professor at Dartmouth College. She called her business “The House on the Marsh Tea Room,” which makes sense given that there was a large marshy area at the base of Mount Tom.

The House on the Marsh Tea Room

The M. Myers House, which in the early 20th century was owned by Mrs. Mary Paige Billings and partially used for a tea room called “The House on the Marsh Tea Room.”

Advertisement from the August 11, 1933, Vermont Standard.

The Asa Jones “Long” House that was used as the Riverside Tea House. The building is located on the south side of River Street, near the Recreation Center Bridge. © The Woodstock History Center

 Just a short distance away, around the corner on River Street, was the historic Asa Jones “Long” House. This building was used as the Riverside Tea House and Shop from at least 1926 through 1941. It was operated by Jane W. Wood and Marguerite James, who also used the building as their residence. According to advertisements, the shop sold a variety of products including linens, lingerie, silver, and leather.

Still another tea house was located on the Dreer estate, just off Golf Avenue.

Over time, the repeal of the 18th ammendment and other changes led to the decline in popularity of tea houses. However, they remain an interesting and important early step that allowed many women to gain a foothold in their quest for greater independence and equality.