Tea has influenced many areas of life, e.g., society, trade, language, and war, and in some cases has changed the course of history.

Tea, which has three basic types: black, green and oolong, is nearly 5,000 years old and was discovered, as legend has it, in 2737 B.C. by a Chinese emperor when some tea leaves accidentally blew into a pot of boiling water. In the 1600s tea became popular throughout Europe and the American colonies. High and low tea, tea houses, tea gardens, and tea dances developed. Words, such as TIPS ("to insure prompt service"), and mandarin (from the Portuguese "mandar" meaning "to order") came into being. The Opium Wars (opium became a source of income to buy tea) raged.

 

Since colonial days, tea has played a notable role in American culture and customs. The famous Boston Tea Party protesting the British tea tax was one of the acts leading to the Revolutionary War.

American artisans build the fastest clipper ships in the world to bring tea and other goods back from the Orient.

 

During the twentieth century, two major American contributions to the tea industry occurred. In 1904, iced tea was created at the World's Fair in St. Louis, and in 1908, Thomas Sullivan of New York developed the concept of tea in a bag.

 

 

Acknowledgements: Thanks go to the many organizations which made this display of tea culture possible. An expanded non-virtual version of this exhibit, which was displayed in the FAU Libraries Atrium from February through April, 2000, was the basis for this virtual version.

In the non-virtual display, staff members of the FAU Libraries displayed the accouterments for the English, American, Indian and Chinese tea cuisines; the Morikami Museum of Delray Beach illustrated the intricacies of the Japanese tea ceremony; the Director of FAU Libraries, with the aid of his daughters, set up a dolls’ tea party; the Charleston Tea Plantation in Charleston, SC, the only place in America where tea is commercially grown, and the Leu Gardens of Orlando, FL provided unprocessed tea leaves, and the Stash Tea Company of Tigard, OR supplied the text for the history of tea.

A more detailed history of tea and information about the tea industry and tea accouterments can be found on the World Wide Web and in the materials listed in the Bibliography.

All images (except "teapot") from: "© 1999-2000 www.arttoday.com"

The Way of Tea

British Tea Council

A World of Tea

Readings about Tea Culture: Selected materials
from the Florida Atlantic University Library