“Take some more tea,” the March Hare said at that literary tea party. Alice and her chums enjoyed a tea time that was riddled with puns, good butter and the illogical chaos of Wonderland. More tea was taken, and hurled overboard in Boston in December of 1773, when the Sons of Liberty, in disguise and under cover of night, tired of excessive taxation without representation, tipped a fortune of imported British tea into the wintery water of Boston Harbor.
Wikipedia says the British tax would have “force(d) the colonists to pay a tax of 3 pennies on every pound of tea” about $31.78 in today’s money.
On May 13, 1774, in broad daylight, citizens of Chester Town, Maryland, boarded the brigantine Geddes at the town wharf and dumped its tea cargo into the Chester River. These local Sons of Liberty listed their grievances, which became known as the Chestertown Resolves: it became illegal to buy, sell or drink tea that had been shipped from England. The Revolutionary War came to the Eastern Shore.
The Chestertown Spy’s records don’t go back as far as 1774, so we can’t confirm all the historical details, but we do like a good tale with feats of derring-do. We plan to enjoy the 250th anniversary of the Chestertown Tea Party that is being celebrated this weekend. The Chestertown Tea Festival is an annual gala with a parade, marching bands, tea party re-enactors, art, history, music, crafts and food. Grab your mob cap, don your tricorn, and polish your shoe buckles and let’s march downtown. Let’s wave at the Sultana. Do you hear the fife and drum? It’s tea time.
We don’t have to pay excise taxes on tea these days, so it’s not just the Brits who enjoy tea. Tea can be a sweet, milky, strong and dark, or mild and pale. It can be a bracing brew in a mug, a translucent teacup, or a tall glass with ice and lemons. Tea can be accompanied by hot, buttered crumpets, or fresh scones with strawberry jam and clotted cream (divine), or with cunning little crustless cucumber or watercress sandwiches, or even a light supper. Also perfect: a cup of scalding tea and a plate of buttered toast. Tea is the omnibus term, and this weekend we will embrace it. We might even find time for a Pimm’s Cup.
NPR is happy to explain the different categories of tea: high tea, afternoon tea, cream tea, elevenses. Tea Categories as Explained by NPR
I’m more interested in tiny elaborate layered tea sandwiches that take hours to assemble, and disappear in a flash. Give me cukes!
CUCUMBER SANDWICHES (for a party)
(For yourself, 4 slices of bread should do it.)
1 English cucumber, peeled and sliced
Maldon Salt, for extra crunch
32 slices soft white sandwich bread
¾ cup unsalted butter, softened
Freshly ground black pepper
Stack the slices of bread and cut off the offending crusts. Spread each slice with softened butter, evenly. Put the cucumber rounds on half the slices of bread, overlapping the rounds slightly. Sprinkle salt and pepper and top with the remaining bread slices. Cut into triangles. Devour.
These are totally adorable sandwiches, and what a genius move to use cookie cutters! Tea Sandwiches
These scones are extremely popular at Claridge’s in London. They are equally tasty if baked at home: Scones
Tea doesn’t have to be a fusty or class-conscious ritual. It does require a little planning, a little shopping, a little ahead-of-time-prep. You don’t need to stick your pinky out – we are proud Americans. No pretense is necessary or tolerated. This is the perfect weekend to celebrate the American Revolutionary spirit. Nothing says radical, anti-monarchist thinking more than a tray crowded with a platter of beautiful, crustless sandwiches and tiny cakes, some delicate bone china, and gleaming, well-polished, ancestral silver!
“If you are ever passing my way, don’t wait to knock! Tea is at four, but any of you are welcome at any time!”
– Bilbo Baggins
Barbara Jorgenson says
Love this column and this author but please do not accept this recitation of our Tea Party’s history. Please look to local historian Adam Goodheart for what he has found through painstaking research to be the true story.
That said, accolades to the handful of local citizens who banded together in 1968 to start what is Chestertown’s first and signature event. This group was honored last night by Tea Party chair Steve Meehan who presented a plaque to the Town in honor of their work and this wonderful event.
So, put on your tri- corner hat or bonnet and I’ll see you downtown tomorrow.
Barbara Jorgenson
President
Historical Society of Kent County
Jean Sanders says
Thanks, Barbara! Here’s to a wonderful tradition!