Massachusetts Tea Rooms

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From the Land of Tea

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Massachusetts Tea Rooms!


After six months on other topics, today i return with pleasure to vintage Tea Rooms by Location -- namely the great state of Massachusetts, USA. These are old postcards, and each one has a caption explaining it, and some have additional photos and text. These images will eventually be on display at the Mystic Tea Room web site. As a Patreon supporter, you have access to them one full year before the public does.

To place this work in context, please read the following introductory pages




Contents

Massachusetts Tea Rooms

As one of the original 13 colonies and the site of the Boston Tea Party, 20th century Massachusetts was home to many tea rooms situated within 18th century or even 17th century buildings, as well as to rural tea rooms decorated in Colonial fashion. Not all of the tea room postcards in this lot are interior views, but those that are are often RPPCs -- real photo postcards -- which means that each card was individually developed in a photographer's studio, making them very rare and highly collectible.

Massachusetts State Tea Room Gallery in alphabetical order by name of city or town.

Bernardson

Sumner's Tea Room and Gift Shop in Bernardson, Massachusetts; this unusual, theme-park-like tea room of the 1920s takes the form of a frontier fortress, built in homage to the town's original settlement in 1738 by 60 families, among whom were veterans of King Philip's War (1675–1678) who built log houses with port holes in the walls for defense against the local Native people; the abundant signage advertises "Camping & Cottages," "Tea, Coffee, Milk, Sandwiches & Butter-Kist Pop Corn," "Vermont Made Products, Waffles and Chicken, Home Cooked Food," and "Vermont Maple Grove Candies, Maple Hearts, Syrup Sugar Sold Here;" a circular clock hangs outside, showing the time as 1:15 PM, and advertising "Vermont Ice Cream;" for a Massachusetts tea room, this establishment is very "Vermont-centric."

Ipswich

Olde Burnham House Tea Room in Ipswich, Massachusetts, circa 1920s, RPPC postcard front; Ralph Warren Burnham of Ipswich was an entrepreneur who made his fortune promoting historical Colonial hooked rugs and overseeing the crafting of replica hooked rugs; he operated a hooked rug factory, an inn, and an antiques store in Ipswich, as well as the Olde Burnham House Tea Room; the house was actually known locally as the Hart House and was said to have been built in 1640, making it one of the oldest surviving buildings in Massachusetts; this photo shows one of the two original rooms, the kitchen, outfitted as a tea room and decorated with an assortment of 18th and 19th century antiques; in 1936 Burnham sold this room to the Metropolitan Museum of Art; it was literally carved out of the house and a replica was built in its place.
Olde Burnham House Tea Room in Ipswich, Massachusetts, circa 1920s, RPPC postcard front; this photo seems to have been taken on the same day as the one above, and at right angles to it; note the crocheted lace table runner and the large portrait of the two children in both photos; a third photo exists of the same setting, but it is almost identical to the one above, so i have not shown it here; when Ralph Warren Burnham sold this room to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1936, he also sold the room above it to the Winterthur Museum in Winterthur, Delaware.
The Olde Burnham House Tea Room is now known as the 1640 Hart House Restaurant on Linebrook Road in Ipswich, Massachusetts and the entire building has been furnished as a series of upscale dining rooms; this is the Keeper's Room, almost unrecognizable as the replica room built into the house by Ralph Warren Burnham in 1936 to replace the Olde Burnham Tea Room that he had sold to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
After acquiring the Olde Burnham Tea Room from the so-called 1640 Hart House, the Metropolitan Museum of Art installed it in Gallery 709 and presented it as a bedroom with furnishings of the late 17th century that had been made in Massachusetts; dendrological and property deed research determined that although the land had been purchased in 1640 by Thomas Hart, the house was actually built in 1680 by his son Samuel Hart (1645–1725) and his wife Sarah Norton (1647–1727); photo by the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Lunenburg

Buttercup Hill Tea Room, Route 2, Lunenburg, Massachusetts, linen era postcard, circa 1940s; Teknitone by Colourpicture, E. B. Thomas, Cambridge, Mass; the printed text on the back reads, "Food of the same quality and character that I would serve if you were guests in my own home."
The Green Room at the Buttercup Hill Tea Room in Lunenburg, Massachusetts; postcard photo by the Merrill Studio; note the abundance of pseudo-Colonial hooked rugs on the floor; these are very likely from the rug factory of Ralph Warren Burnham, mentioned in the entry for the Olde Burnham Tea Room in Ipswich, Massachusetts.
The Rainbow Room at the Buttercup Hill Tea Room in Lunenburg, Massachusetts; postcard photo by the Merrill Studio; again we see an amazing trove of pseudo-Colonial hooked rugs on the floor, again most likely produced by Ralph Warren Burnham's rug factory in Ipswich, Massachusetts; it is likely that these rugs were offered for sale in the Tea Room's gift shop.

Marblehead

The Brown Owl Tea Room, Marblehead, Massachusetts; linen finish postcard, 1940s

Newton Centre

The Peabody Home Tea Room, Newton Centre, Massachusetts, postcard front, circa 1925, published by a company billing itself as "'The City' Postcards, from Photographs made by the Maynard Workshop, Waban, Mass;" whoever operated the darkroom at the Maynard Workshop, their aesthetic sense is unique, for this strangely exposed high-contrast photo postcard with unusually wide borders makes the Peabody Home Tea Room look positively spectral and possibly haunted.

Northampton

The Copper Kettle Tea Room in Marblehead, Massachusetts; the decor is unusual because the neo-colonial interior architecture, with a substantial fireplace and wooden furniture, is offset with woven rattan chairs, which look like they belong on a garden patio or in palm court hotel lobby.

Onset

Ronald Inn Restaurant Tea Rooms, Onset, Wareham County, Massachusetts, circa 1930s, postcard front; J. A. Ronald was the proprietor.
Ronald Inn Restaurant Tea Rooms, Onset, Wareham County, Massachusetts, circa 1930s, postcard back, published by J. A. Ronald, Onset, Massachusetts and printed by N.E.N (New England News Co.), Boston, Massachusetts; the back of the card functions as an unpriced menu, offering "steamed clams; olives; clam chowder or soup; lobster, chicken, or beefsteak dinners; salad; vegetables; dessert; cake and ice cream; cheese and crackers; tea and coffee."

Orange

The White Drum Tea Room on the Mohawk Trail, Route 2, Orange, Massachusetts, postcard front, circa 1935; this is an outstanding Art Deco or Streamline Moderne building; the text on the back of the card reads, "The White Drum, an unusual and distinctive tea-room on the famous Mohawk Trail. Delicious Food ... Unique surroundings make every meal a pleasant memory; C.T. Photo-Platin Reg. U.S. Pat. Off. Made only by Curt Teich & Co., Inc., Chicago."

Pittsfield

South Street Tea Room, Pittsfield,Massachusetts, postcard front; published by W. H. Benedict, Pittsfield, Massachusetts; this card was mailed on May 19th, 1916 to Mrs. F. Boyer of North Adams, Massachusetts, and bears a hand-written inscription announcing, "Season Opens May 30, 1916;" it was not uncommon for small tea rooms in tourist towns to open only for the Summer or to keep different Summer and Winter hours; the best way to advertise these dates was by sending photographic postcards to everyone who had signed the guest book in previous years; the woven rattan furniture and potted plant add an "Oriental" hotel lobby touch to the large, open Craftsman style room; notice also the grand piano, an unusual tea room feature.

Rockport

The Orchard Restaurant and Tea Room, Beach Street (on the Beach), Rockport, Massachusetts, Tel. 2371, postcard circa 1930s, published by Rockport Photo Bureau, printed by the Albertype Company, Brooklyn, N.Y.

Shelburne

Sweet Heart Tea Room, Shelburne, Massachusetts, interior, postcard front; probably late 1910s, despite the 1920 postmark date on the reverse.
Sweet Heart Tea Room, Shelburne, Massachusetts, interior, postcard back. It is postmarked October 11, 1920, The message reads, "3 o'clock at this tea room — nice lunch— chicken and waffles — Lovely ride — just wish you were here — Mary —" and it is addressed to "Mrs. L. E. Ryder, 98 Lafayette Pk., E. Lynn, Mass."

Stockbridge

Red Lion Inn Fireplace Tea Room Stockbridge, Massachusetts, postcard front.

Turner's Falls

Dance Pavillion and Tea Room at Mayo's Point, Turners Falls, Massachusetts, hand-tinted white border postcard front, circa 1925.

West Yarmouth

The Wind Mill Tea Room and Gift Shop at Englewood Beach, West Yarmouth, Massachusetts, 1920s; the proprietor was R. E. Conaton.
Another view of the Wind Mill Tea Room and Gift Shop at Englewood Beach, West Yarmouth, Massachusetts, 1930s; we can see that a new wing has been added to the building and the parking lot is filled with cars; this postcard also provides a fuller image of the wooden pier which extends into the Atlantic Ocean for patrons to stroll upon.
The Wind Mill Tea Room and Gift Shop was one of many buildings destroyed in the Great Atlantic Hurricane of September 1944, a category 4 cyclone that moved northward along the Atlantic coast for several days, and made landfall from New York to Maine; notice the man at left inspecting the damage; this photograph is among the holdings of the Historical Society of Old Yarmouth.

Westminster

The Old Mill Tea House in Westminster, Massachusetts; the location is an 18th century water-powered saw mill; its use as a summer-season tea room dates from 1921 to 1942; the name of the establishment is written on the roof and underneath it "1761," the date the building was erected.
The historic Old Mill building still stands; the renovated Tea House became an all-season eatery when it was acquired by Ralph and Ruth Foster in 1946; the Foster family continues to run the business, and this 21st century establishment is now known as The 1761 Old Mill Restaurant and Cracker Barrel Pub, located at 69 State Road E., Westminster, Massachusetts 01473.

Williamstown

Forget Me Not Shop And Tea Room, 184 Main Street, Williamstown, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, exterior, postcard front.
Forget Me Not Shop And Tea Room, 184 Main Street, Williamstown, Berkshire County, Massachusetts, exterior, postcard back.
Forget Me Not Inn, Shop, and Tea Room, Williamstown, Massachusetts, postcard front, judging by the improved signage, this pho is later vintantage than the first.
Forget Me Not Inn, Shop, and Tea Room, Williamstown, Massachusetts, postcard back.

Many thanks to my husband nagasiva yronwode for help with scanning and photo-editing on this page, and to my great Patrons, who support my many eccentric research projects.

catherine yronwode
curator, historian, and docent
The Mystic Tea Room

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