Bibliography of Books about Tasseomancy

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[[File:Fortune-and-Fame-in-Tea-Cup-Reading.jpg|300px|right|thumb|"Fortune and Fame in Tea Cup Reading" by Em-Ja-Dee (Michael J. Duff)]]
[[File:Fortune-and-Fame-in-Tea-Cup-Reading.jpg|300px|right|thumb|"Fortune and Fame in Tea Cup Reading" by Em-Ja-Dee (Michael J. Duff)]]
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[[File:Learn-How-to-Tell-Tea-Cup-Fortunes.Putnam.jpg|300px|right|thumb|"Learn How to Tell Tea Cup Fortunes" by S.E.M. Putnam]]
As far as we know, written documentation of the tradition of reading tea cups began in the late 19th century with an American named John W. Hanley, an inventor who created games for telling fortunes at parties, most of which were based in astrology. In 1899 he released the Fortuna Fortune Telling Tea Cup, which combined astrology with tea reading. This came with a book that revealed how to toss a cup, and listed about 50 signs found in the leaves. Soon after, a number of marked astrology cups and saucers were released, the 1904 Nelros Cup of Fortune, designed by Neville Ross, being the best-known. It too came with an instruction booklet.  
As far as we know, written documentation of the tradition of reading tea cups began in the late 19th century with an American named John W. Hanley, an inventor who created games for telling fortunes at parties, most of which were based in astrology. In 1899 he released the Fortuna Fortune Telling Tea Cup, which combined astrology with tea reading. This came with a book that revealed how to toss a cup, and listed about 50 signs found in the leaves. Soon after, a number of marked astrology cups and saucers were released, the 1904 Nelros Cup of Fortune, designed by Neville Ross, being the best-known. It too came with an instruction booklet.  

Revision as of 03:20, 4 September 2020

"Fortune and Fame in Tea Cup Reading" by Em-Ja-Dee (Michael J. Duff)
"Learn How to Tell Tea Cup Fortunes" by S.E.M. Putnam

As far as we know, written documentation of the tradition of reading tea cups began in the late 19th century with an American named John W. Hanley, an inventor who created games for telling fortunes at parties, most of which were based in astrology. In 1899 he released the Fortuna Fortune Telling Tea Cup, which combined astrology with tea reading. This came with a book that revealed how to toss a cup, and listed about 50 signs found in the leaves. Soon after, a number of marked astrology cups and saucers were released, the 1904 Nelros Cup of Fortune, designed by Neville Ross, being the best-known. It too came with an instruction booklet.

If collecting books is your passion, you may enjoy our Bibliography of Books about Tasseomancy. It will never be complete -- and we look forward to suggestions and contributions of information from our readers.

Anton, John Tea Leaf Reading Booklet, Taltos Cup of Fortune, 1975

  • 24 pg. John Anton Taltos Booklet.

Aynsley. The Cup of Knowledge. Aynsley China, 1924.

  • Can be used with any Aynsley, Alfred Meakin, J & G Meakin, Booth's, Grosvenor Jackson & Gosling, or Fairylite Cup of Knowledge.
  • 6 pg. tri-fold with the line drawing of a dragon on the front.

Barbreggo. The Romany Cup of Fortune. Creaive Art Products, 1935. Benevente, Marcia, Tea Fortunes!. Stephen Leeman Products, 1931, 1946.

Brandimarte, Cynthia A., To Make the Whole World Homelike: Gender Space and America’s Tea Room Movement, Winterthur Portfolio 30, No. 1, Spring 1995.

Bushnell’s Blue Label, How to Read Tea Cups. Bushell’s Ltd, c.1934-1946. [At least two editions with identical contents and different photo-covers.]

Charlot, Yvonne B., Tea-Cup Fortune Telling. Universal Publications, 1935; rev. ed. 1937.

Coleman, Mildred H., Recovering Frances Virginia and the Frances Virginia Tea Room: Transition Era Activism at the Intersections of Womanism, Feminism, and Home Economics, 1920-1962. Thesis, Georgia State University, 2012.

Dinan, Katie [Catherine Genevieve. Hagen]. Tea Leaves. Avice Dahlin, 1949.

Em-Ja-Dee [Michæl J. Duff]. Fortune and Fame in Tea-Cup Reading. A. Mitchell, 1939. [Printer’s Booklet No. 57, surprinted with tea room names, found in many variations.]

Fenton, Sasha. Tea Cup Reading

  • Originally published in 2000. This wonderful "Quick and Easy Guide to Tasseography" is a favourite modern book on the subject of telling fortunes by tea leaf reading according to traditional Scottish, English, and Irish methods. It also teaches how to read coffee grounds in the Eastern European style. Profusely illustrated with images of tea-leaf and coffee ground symbols, it gives the time-honoured meanings for the images, along with historical overviews of tea and coffee, including their social impact and some of their medical uses. If you need just one book on tasseography, to get you started reading tea leaves for friends and clients, this is the one. It is fun, upbeat, informative, and completely accurate with respect to the "old ways" of fortune telling in a teacup.
  • 142 pages, trade paperback.

Hanley, John W. The Fortune Telling Tea Cup: Prophetic, Interesting, Amusing, and Instructive. Fortuna Tea Cup Co., 1899.

  • The first book on tassomancy that did not accompany a tea set was “Tea Cup Reading: How to Tell Fortunes by Tea Leaves” by “A Highland Seer,” published circa 1917-1918. The pseudonymous author was literate and well-versed in the history of the spae-wives of Scotland, the prophetesses who read the tea leaves,

Highland Seer, A. Tea Cup Reading: How to Tell Fortunes by Tea Leaves. George Sully. c 1917-1918. [Also an early edition by A. Burt, and many later reprints.].

  • From time immemorial, humankind has tried to uncover the meaning of divining the future. While druids followed the stars and Greeks sought counsel from the Oracle at Delphi, the "spae-wives" of the Scottish highlands found the answers to life in the tea-leaf patterns in their cups. Lines of dust meant journeys, swans foretold of love, and snakes warned of disaster. These and other symbols were passed down from generation to generation. This work reproduces the writings of an anonymous Scottish seer who recorded the secrets of the ancient art of reading tea leaves, including an alphabetical list of the various signs and their meanings. It features illustrations of sample cups, and their interpretations show how to weave and balance the symbols together, transforming a cup of tea into the voice of the Fates. The book combines that manuscript with modern writings on the history and philosophy of foretelling the future.
  • 96 pages, hardcover.

Kent, Cicely, Telling Fortunes by Tea Leaves: How to Read Your Fate in a Tea Cup. Dodd, Mead And Company, 1922. and many subsequent printings through 1946.

  • Cicely Kent’s 1922 opus, “Telling Fortunes by Tea Leaves: How to Read Your Fate in a Tea Cup,” was, and remains, the most exhaustive book on cup reading symbolism. Every author since Kent has consulted her large dictionary of symbols, and we are no exception.

Lipton. The Cup of Knowledge — Lipton’s. Thomas J. Lipton, Ltd., 1938.

  • Lipton's Tea Cup of Knowledge, Alfred Meakin Royal Marigold Cup.
  • 16 pg. Booklet

Mac Nicol, Willis [William Nicholson and Sydney MacNamara]. The Cup of Knowledge: A Key to the Mysteries of Divination. n.p, , n.d. [1924 and 1925, for the British Empire Exhibition.

  • Two editions, “tall” and “square.” The former is the earlier; the latter soon replaced it as the square shape fits the packaging for a cup and saucer.]
  • In 1924 The Cup of Knowledge by William Nicholson and Samuel MacNarama (“Willis Mac Nichol”) was a huge hit. The first cartomancy cup. it came with a fanciful book of history and full instructions for use,

McWhorter, Margaret L. Tea Cup Tales: The Art of Reading Tea Leaves===

  • 112 pages, paperback.

Mercury. Tea-Cup and Card Fortune Telling. W. Foulsham, n.d. (c. 1925).

  • Around 1925 the publisher W. Foulsham brought out an odd little double-book — 48 pages on tasseomancy and 48 pages on card reading bound together as “Tea-Cup and Card Fortune Telling” by “Mercury.”

Minetta. Tea-Cup Fortune Telling: The Signs Illustrated and Simply Explained. W.Foulsham, n.d. (c. 1926). [At least six editions issued with variant covers and sub-titles, revised ed. 1958, plus two American editions, by David Mackay and I. & M. Ottenheimer.]

Muriel. The Muriel Method of Tea-Leaf Reading. Muriel Publishing Co., 1938.

Paragon. Signs and Omens Cup and Saucer. Paragon Fine China, n.d. (c. 1930).

Princess Romana. Your Fortune in the Tea Cup. Thomas J. Lipton, Inc., 1934.

Putnam, S. E. M. Learn How to Tell Tea Cup Fortunes. San Fernando Valley Press, c 1938.

Red Rose Tea

  • Tea Leaf Reading Booklet, Cup of Fortune, Red Rose Tea, c1965
  • 10 pg. Booklet

Royal Kendall

  • Tea Leaf Reading Booklet, Taltos Cup of Fortune, 1980
  • 24 pg. Booklet.

Salada. Cup Reading. Salada Tea, c 1934 - 1940 with variant covers and contents.

Tucker, Frederick Charles. Tucker’s Tea-Cup Reader. Tucker’s Publications, c 1938.

Vernon, Lillian

  • Tea Leaf Reading Booklet, Lillian Vernon Fortune Teller Cup, 1985
  • Original folded sheet for Lillian Vernon 's ICG Cup of Fortune.

Whitaker, Jan. Tea at the Blue Lantern Inn: A Social History of the Tea Room Craze in America. St. Martin’s Press, 2015.

Wimsatt, Genevieve. Chinese Fortune-Telling Teacup. Wimsatt, 1931.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/tea-room-police-raids-new-york-psychics-fortune-telling

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