The hum of happy voices. . . Tea tables, exquisitely set . . . Aproned servers, who rarely allow a teacup to empty . . . Charming ambience and unique decor . . . Delectable, home-cooked food . . .
Twice a year, since the Sunnyvale Historical Society (SHS) opened the doors of its brand new museum in 2008, guests have been delighted by the society’s formal Victorian teas. This December marks the fifteenth year of teas – two Spring Teas each April and four in December. . . . and that calls for recognition and celebration! Here is a look back at fifteen years of SHS teas.
An Idea Was Born…
Museum Director Laura Babcock brought the tea idea to the SHS in the fall of 2008. She had recently returned from a trip to Minnesota where she attended a formal tea at a local historic park. Intrigued by the idea, and desperate for new methods of fundraising, Laura concluded that the recently opened Heritage Park Museum would be the perfect venue for formal teas:
- An elegant building with an expansive second floor, opening onto a balcony.
- An adjacent exhibit room, the perfect place for holiday displays.
- A kitchen for handy preparation of food and tea.
Back home, Laura shared her idea with Janice Havey, Bobbie Birnie, and Jeanine Stanek, volunteers who enjoyed the tradition of formal teas. Bobbie, a native of England, had been raised with afternoon tea and agreed to become a consultant on the serving of a proper tea.
Bobbie recommended a friend, Jannet Botting, who had grown up in a British family in Argentina, where Sunday teas were a part of her life. When Jannet was in her early twenties, she began a long career as a flight attendant for Pan American Airlines. Assigned to the first class section, where she quickly learned that Pan Am was a “stickler for presentation”, Jannet studied the fine points of serving tea which today, decades later, she generously shares with the SHS community.
Amazingly, those five ladies, all volunteers, along with several other dedicated volunteer helpers, including office and archive staff, were able to pull together a beautiful formal tea in December, 2008, just two months after the museum’s opening day! One month later, the SHS newsletter of January 2009 summed up the success of that first tea as follows: The overwhelming question (asked by the tea guests), was “When is the next one?”
Collecting Tea Essentials
One of the first tasks facing the initial tea team in 2008 was the gathering of items necessary for serving tea to as many as fifty guests at a time. Where did the team find the items needed to stock the tea cupboard in those early days?
- Glass tea plates – purchased by Jannet Botting from a restaurant going out of business.
- Silver teapots – researched by Jannet and purchased by the SHS.
- Tea cups and saucers – donated to the SHS. (Tea cup donations are still being accepted today.)
- Two-tier plate trays – Jannet’s husband, Jim Piazza, constructed several two-tier serving plates by drilling
An astonishing tablecloth fact: In the early days, Janice Havey took all of the cloths on the tea tables home for washing before the next day’s tea!! Thankfully, the museum storeroom now has enough tablecloths for an entire weekend of teas, giving the volunteer laundresses more time between teas to wash and iron tablecloths and napkins.
Fifteen Years of Tea Themes
Part of the fun at every tea is a selected theme highlighted throughout the tearoom – on counters, in corners, atop an old-fashioned pump organ and displayed on antique buffets. In the first few years, the tea theme usually began with a Victorian lady pictured on a postcard, and the ideas grew from there. The Spring Teas have featured vintage purses and pearls, displays of hats, with guests encouraged to wear their own fine “chapeaus”, wedding finery from past generations, and clothing from the collection of the Butcher family, one of Sunnyvale’s early orchardists. An exhibit of old-fashioned gloves and handkerchiefs and a program featuring the First Ladies of the United States have also entertained spring tea guests.
December’s guests, who have twice enjoyed extensive collections of Nativity sets from around the world, have also been delighted by collections of angels, Santas and snowmen, Victorian villages and vintage toys – even electric trains. A recent theme highlighted Christening dresses worn by babies of yesteryear. The theme items on display, plus three exquisitely decorated Christmas trees, never fail to create a charming Victorian tearoom ambience.
Lessons Learned by the Tea Team
At the beginning, the teas were “a work in progress” and, to an extent, they continue to be. Along the way, the team has learned many “best practices” for preparing and serving formal teas to dozens of guests at a time, including the best way to brew tea, streamlining kitchen tasks, offering only vegetarian choices as an alternate menu, and discovering which recipes are the best choices for sweets and spreads. The team has also discovered the necessity of posting meticulous notes to guide kitchen helpers, the most efficient method for making more than two hundred sandwiches for each tea seating, the best way to load two-tier serving trays to correspond with the number of guests at each table, and setting an extra tea table – just in case.
Scheduling volunteers online has made the tea planning process easier, too, as well as recently limiting the guest number at each tea to forty-five for several reasons, including space restrictions and not overtaxing volunteers. The creation of videos, photos, and clearly stated instruction manuals now document each step of the tea preparation, from set-up to clean-up – even instructions for putting everything away after the final tea of the season.
Why are the SHS Teas so Successful?
Presentation has always been the hallmark of SHS teas. From the very beginning in 2008, the Tea Team understood that the society did not have the financial backing needed to compete with other holiday teas in the area – there was no money for “fancy”. Still, the team made the decision to offer an elegant, formal tea experience to its guests with the support and expertise of many volunteers and donations of delicate china teacups from members.
{Photo of young girl at tea table.} One of the fine points of “presentation”, brought to us by Jannet Botting, isare starched napkins, folded to resemble a lotus flower, and carefully placed into every scone serving basket. Another example of Jannet’s points of presentation is the “just-so” placement of the tea utensils at each tea table, all set at the same, proper angle. Jannet had “free rein” to bring her tea ideas to fruition, and the result is an exquisite presentation, which rivals tea settings in the most elegant of tearooms. Add warm and friendly service, homemade (not purchased) food, delightful room decor . . . and a charming tea experience awaits!
An Extremely Successful Fundraiser!
From the beginning many of the teas have sold out, sometimes weeks before the date of the first tea. The “regulars” who come to the teas have learned to secure their reservations early.
Over the past fifteen years, the SHS has hosted approximately ninety regularly scheduled teas and about ten private teas. Using an average of fifty guests at each tea, the Tea Team has served tea to about 5,100 guests. Considering a total of 5,100 guest reservations at an average of $40.00 per reservation, the SHS has realized nearly $204,000, minus expenses, from hosting fifteen years of teas. In other words, the teas are not only great fun to attend, they have been an extremely successful museum fundraiser!
A Salute to the Volunteers!
{Photo of kitchen workers.}When one compares the success of the SHS teas to those held at other tea venues, the fact that the SHS is a 99% volunteer organization makes fifteen years of tea success even more remarkable. The SHS has only one employee, Shanna Gaudenti, the part time Museum Manager. Shanna currently handles tea reservations. Every other member of the Tea Team and the other twenty-plus volunteers required for each tea date, generously give of their time and talent to make the teas a reality. In addition to the team, we salute the greeters, hostesses, bakers, cooks, sandwich makers, servers, table setters, tablecloth and napkin laundresses, teacup washers, and general clean-up helpers. We honor every volunteer, from 2008 to 2023, who has made the teas a complete success! We thank them for their generous service to the teas and to the Sunnyvale Historical Society.
Tea Teams through the Years
The Founders and Original Tea Team:
Laura Babcock Administrative liaison, kitchen duties
Bobbie Birnie Tea consultant, kitchen duties
Janice Havey Overall chair, kitchen duties, themed displays, decorations,
purchasing groceries.
Jannet Botting Tea tables and presentation, purchasing and washing tablecloths, ironing napkins, ongoing inventory of all tea items.
Jeanine Stanek Recruitment of volunteers, tea reservations, kitchen duties.
Leslie Lawton Tea fliers
Winki Adams Tea brewer, setting tea tables, washing tea cups.
Over the years, the Original Tea Team volunteers were joined or succeeded by:
Jeanine Stanek, Katharina Woodman, Vicky Chu Kitchen Manager
Linda Kubitz, Tiffany Anderson Volunteer recruitment
Martha Rowe, Dixie Larsen, Shanna Gaudenti Reservations
Dixie Larsen Tea Brewer
Alisha Zare Project Manager, documentation
Margarete Minar, Tiffany Anderson Fliers and menu cards
Finally . . .
The Sunnyvale Historical Society is justly proud of its teas. For fifteen years we have heard glowing reports about the presentation, the ambience, the fun. It is the hope of the SHS to continue hosting teas for another fifteen years . . . and beyond! In order to make that happen, additional volunteers are needed. If you are interested in helping with this delightfully fun fundraising event, please contact Shanna, our Museum Manager, at the phone number or email, below.
Shanna Gaudenti, Heritage Park Museum Manager
sgaudenti@heritageparkmuseum.org
Museum phone number: 408.749.0220
Resources:
Tea Team Interviews and Notes
SHS Newsletters