Glorious wonderful Tea. It’s been enjoyed for 1000’s of years all over the world from Kings and Queens to moms and dads, with no sign of ever going away. Now I’m personally more of a coffee drinker, but I do enjoy a nice flavoured cup once in a while and I always have it on hand for guests (this is mandatory as a host).
Today’s post is going to showcase vintage advertising for Tea brands from the 1920s – 1950s. Enjoy!
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Vintage Tea Advertisting
1920s-1950s
1920s Ad for “C.W.S. Tea”.
Mappin And Webb 1920s France Cc Tea vintage advertising. Very Art Deco feel to the ad illustration.
Home and Colonial Tea -1920s vintage ad.
King Cole Tea is a Canadian tea company that has been around since 1910 from Saint Johns, New Brunswick.
Lipton’s Tea-1931 vintage ad.
1940’s Australian Ad for Bushells Tea.
1940s Vintage Lipton Tea Advertisement.
1944 Tea Advertisement for Canterbury Tea published in the Family Circle Magazine.
Tea Council Ad from the 1950s.
Woman’s Day, November 1952. Note: Woman’s Day was originally produced for A&P stores as a free in-store menu/recipe planner (Source).
Ty-Phoo Tea, Great British Tea since 1903.
This is a fun Lipton’s Tea vintage ad illustration.
1950 LIFE Magazine Tea Council Ad.
“If life gets you down…TURN TO TEA! The cup that cheers!”
Hope you enjoyed this roundup of vintage Tea Advertisements friends. Do you have a favourite out of the ones listed? Are you a tea drinker yourself? Share your thoughts in the comments below and have a wonderful day!
FURTHER READING:
Vintage Advertising Blog Post Archive
Liz
A history of the world in 100 objects: Early Victorian tea set
http://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/objects/FWYgWOCSSpKKuF3pctC6tA
Well, being English, you can probably guess that I love my tea! I do only drink decaf though as I’ve been caffeine free for over four years. I love all of these adverts, they’re just gorgeous but I think my favourite is the Mappin & Webb one, which I’m assuming is advertising the tea service to buy as they’re still a luxury jewellery and gifting company.
One thing I will mention is that the first image from the 30s actually shows a coffee pot, not a tea pot, so they’re more likely to be drinking coffee. Coffee pots are taller than tea pots, which are actually quite dumpy. You can see the difference on the Mappin & Webb advert, the coffee pot is on the left and the tea pot is on the stand. I think that’s a hot water pot on the right to top them both up with, which you sometimes get served in posh hotels when having afternoon tea. xx
Good observations Cate, I will change out that main image right now. Thanks! Enjoy your decaf tea 🙂
I think my favorite ad is “Take Tea and See” because it’s mid-pour, which always gets people excited, and it’s steaming. And there’s the bonus of the man in his skivvies, holding a giant teapot LOL. In Texas, we mainly drink iced tea. I drink iced tea every day. The only hot tea my family drinks is when it’s cold and too late for coffee (ha!) like Sleepytime tea. But I love the images!
Great observations kerbey! Ice tea is pretty good but for me it has to be sweet ice tea. Which is odd because I don’t take sugar in my tea or coffee.
Well, you are just an anomaly!
I was in fact just sitting down with a cup of tea when I started reading this, so how appropriate! And, if you are wondering, I am definitely looking as glamorous as the ladies in these ads.
Awesome! I would never think twice that you would not be looking as glamorous as them 🙂
These are lovely images and much more glamorous than tea adverts are now. I’m a big tea drinker, decaf though, but I can’t get through the day without lots of cups!
decaf seems to be the winner for tea. I have to have caffeine..lots lol!
Simply take a pinch of the tea leaves, place them in the tea strainer and pour the water into the cup. Remove the tea strainer and tea leaves the tea is ready. This is my method! The tea is weak but refreshing. Alternatively, you can add the leaves to the tea pot and strain through the tea strainer if you have more people.
I’m only about a year late…but here’s a few interesting tidbits to add: A&P began retail as The Great American Tea Company in 1863 (prior to that, Gilman & Co., c1859, wholesale only). It was later renamed The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company and eventually shortened to A&P as it began to sell a wider array of grocery items. TESCO (UK grocery) began as a tea stall and is now a retail conglomerate. Both are the opposite of Lipton who began as a grocer and became known for tea!
WOW that is so cool!! Thanks for sharing that. I guess it shows, that if you work hard even a little tea stall can become something huge 🙂 Happy New Year!
It also goes to show it is about the journey, not the destination which is such a great lesson for New Year’s Day. It helped me formulate my motto for 2019 – Don’t let today’s circumstances dictate tomorrow’s opportunities! Happy New Year!
Slainte,
Short & Stout
P.S. Apologies for “…here’s a few…” The internet is not an excuse for bad grammar. I didn’t complete my edit and am now appropriately ashamed.
P.S.S If not already, you should follow @magpieethel on Instagram, I think you would love her style and spunk. Plus, you look a bit alike!
It does! I will check out your suggestion as well, thanks!
Old post but so valuable, thanks! Does anyone know the tea that tiny (porcelain) toys inside the package? An old friend of mine from church cannot recall the tea brand, and i wanted to surprise him by looking it up… but a’las after searching for nearly 2h, have come up empty handed.
Any thoughts/ideas?
All my posts are “Old” HA! Glad you found it valuable. Hopefully someone will see this comment and be able to help (I unfortantely don’t know the answer).
thanks for dropping by!
Liz
Red Rose Tea with Wade Whimsies.
I was researching “Lucky boy” tea, a brand trademark for the Embassy grocery corp, of NYC.
My uncle, a truck driver for the company, gave my mother Lucky boy tea all the time.
We have a photo of the bag, framed and hanging in my kitchen!
Oh how wonderful that you have this connection to the tea. Thank you for sharing that great story, I love hearing memories like that.
Thanks for commenting!
Liz