Unbelievable afternoon tea stories
Afternoon tea is steeped in history and the etiquette always seems to make sense. Although, the afternoon tea expert isn’t quite sure what to think of the below stories. Here are some stories that Eileen has discovered about afternoon tea and where the etiquette comes from.
Sticking out your pinkie finger when you drink tea
Did you know the true meaning of why this exists? When afternoon tea was first introduced and enjoyed by the upper classes, they would indicate how much tea that was in their teacup by protruding their little finger. The lower they held their finger meant the volume of tea that was left in their tea cup. They didn’t like to speak to their servants so this was a way of indicating when a servant should approach and fill their tea cup. Of course, this would be considered much to impolite to do today so the trend has worn off. Remember, keep your little fingers in when drinking tea!
Cutting a scone with a knife
Do you know where the etiquette has come from of why we don’t use a knife to break a scone? It dates back to a particular cream tea when Lady Mary of Coole was attacked by a fellow diner with a knife. The ‘lady’ who attacked her was jealous of Lady Mary’s recent love interest was a handsome countryman who was visiting the estate. Lady Mary wasn’t injured but badly shaken so since then knives were banned from the afternoon tea table at the risk of any other hysterical outbursts.
Tea under lock and key
We all know that ladies of the house guarded their tea because of its high price but did you know that some ladies took additional measures. Not content with having their tea under lock and key, they decided they would enlist the help of a special breed of dog. The tea cop poodle was bred to guard tea in some of the finest homes in England. The small size of the dog meant that it was able to sit beside the tea caddy without disrupting any of the tea cups on the table hence the name.
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