Busy days.

Christina and I making the tea. 

Oh my gosh, it's been something like a month since I last posted!  A lot has been going on.

First, we had our 6th annual Cat Rescue Tea in San Jose, and it was another success!  We served about 120 people over 2 days, and raised close to $5,000 for 13th Street Cats!

I made 8 batches of Meyer lemon curd, and coordinated a bunch of other things, including jam donations, tea donations (from Satori Tea Bar and Thompson Tea Company), and put together 2 afternoon tea baskets for the silent auction, as well as collected a bunch of other tea things for the raffle for both days.  I also helped make tea sandwiches, served the lemon curd, jam, and butter, and with my friend Christina, made all the tea that was served at the event.

2nd Annual San Francisco International Tea Festival

Afternoon Tea Across America members meet up!
Photo: Elizabeth Urbach

Mr. Fong and Mr. Pratt opening the
2012 Festival.  Photo: Elizabeth Urbach

My friend and I went to the The San Francisco International Tea Festival at the Ferry Building Marketplace last Sunday.  A big highlight for me was meeting up with some of the members of the Afternoon Tea Across America e-mail group on Yahoo (see photo at left)!  We had a good time, and will probably go again next year.  The festival, open to tea lovers outside the professional tea trade, involved 16 tea vendors and various experts who offered samples of their tea and tea products, gave lectures and led tea tastings.  There were about 1,000 attendees, who received a small bag of promotional handouts, a few samples of tea, and an official tasting cup, at the festival entrance.

San Francisco International Tea Festival!

Ferry Building in San Francisco.
Wikimedia Commons.

I just heard about the San Francisco International Tea Festival from a tea friend.  I had no idea that this event even existed, and now I totally want to go!  It will be held at the Ferry Building on Saturday, February 25 and admission is $25 per person.

Is anyone else going to this event?  I've never been to this kind of event before, but it sounds like such an interesting and fun experience. 

12 San Jose area holiday events for 2010!

Christmas bells.  Image from AntiqueClipArt.com

Well, now that Thanksgiving has come and gone, and the turkey leftovers are getting eaten up, it's time to start thinking about Christmas and other winter holiday celebrations.  Here are some interesting things happening in the San Jose area in the next few weeks:

1. The Great Dickens Christmas Fair: November 26 to December 19, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. at the Cow Palace, 2600 Geneva Avenue, Daly City, CA.  General admission: $25 (discounts for advance purchase online).

Some fun Bay Area autumn events.

Need ideas for things to do?  Just in case your schedule isn't full enough already ... 

1. Who Do You Think You Are? Intro to Genealogy: beginning Saturday October 2, 2010 from 11:00AM - 12:30PM.  At the California Genealogical Society and Library, 2201 Broadway LL2, Oakland, California 94612.  Phone: (510) 663-1358. “Volunteer members are available to help you use our extensive resources and online databases. Bring information about an ancestor's family and we will help you find them in the 1920 or 1930 census. Everyone is welcome the first Saturday of every month. Open 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.  Join us for a FREE Introduction to Genealogy Class every FIRST SATURDAY of the MONTH from 11:00 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.”

2. Sing Me Your Story, Dance Me Home: Art and Poetry from Native California:  October 2 - December 5, 2010, Tues. – Sun., 11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. The de Saisset Museum at Santa Clara University, 500 El Camino Real, Santa Clara, CA 95053.  Phone: (408)554 – 4528.

3. Meet Author Mary Jo Ignoffo: Thursday, Nov 11 6:30pm at Barnes & Noble Stevens Creek, San Jose, CA.  “Come meet local writer Mary Jo Ignoffo as she talks about her new book, Captive of the Labyrinth, the first full-length biography of Sarah Winchester, the eccentric builder of the mystery house that bears her name.” 

4. The San Francisco Fall Antique Show: October 27-31, at Fort Mason Center, San Francisco.  This year’s theme: “Chinoiserie: Rococo to Eco.” “The San Francisco Fall Antiques Show is the oldest continuously operating international antiques show on the West Coast. The Show features approximately seventy dealers from across the United States and Europe, offering for sale an extraordinary range of fine and decorative arts representing all styles and periods including American, English, Continental, and Asian furniture, silver, ceramics, glass, jewelry, rugs, textiles, paintings, prints, and photographs.”

Italian Picnic in San Jose!

While Italy is better known for its love of coffee, the country has a long history with tea, too.  Many Italian foods, especially pastries and sweets, go really well with tea.  Since October has been declared National Italian American Heritage Month, the South Bay Ladies' Tea Guild will be celebrating Italian contributions to the culture and life of the Santa Clara Valley with a picnic and a game or two of bocce.  

Vin santo with biscotti in Milan.  Wikimedia Commons

Italian Bocce Picnic: let’s celebrate Italian ingenuity and culture with an Italian picnic and game or two of bocce.  Italian picnic food and iced tea will be provided, as will a set of bocce balls for all of us to share. Gentlemen and children welcome!
    Date: Saturday, October 16, 2010, 1 p.m.
    Location: Backesto Park, N. 13th St., San Jose.
    Food Fee: $20 (Ladies' Tea Guild members)/ $25 (non-members)
    Suggested costume: summer/autumn day dress from 1870 to 1950, or modern dress.

R.S.V.P.s and food fees are required at least 48 hours in advance of the event, with the deadline being Thursday, October 14, 2010.  Reservations and cancellations cannot be accepted after that date.  Payments by PayPal and personal check can be accepted.  For more information or to reserve a spot, e-mail the South Bay Ladies' Tea Guild. 

National Italian American Heritage Month
An Italian American Dinner Party
Slitti Italian Chocolate with Earl Grey Tea
"Tea's popularity grows in Italy" by Jane Pettigrew
"Tramezzini: Italian tea sandwiches"
The Foods and Wines of Italy

Get out the croquet set and enjoy these last days of summer!

"A Game of Croquet" by Winslow Homer, 1866. Wikipedia.
Croquet is a vintage game that can be very formal and complicated, or it can be played in a much simplified manner that is perfect for home and public park games. You need a croquet set -- and these can sometimes be found at places like Target and Wal-mart, as well as specialty sporting-goods stores -- and you need a medium-sized to large grassy area. If you have a back or front yard that is covered in grass and fairly flat, and at least 20 feet long, that will work. If you don't have enough space at home, you can try a local public park. Bring your croquet set, plus a rubber mallet for tapping on the stakes and wickets (wire hoops) to stick them in the ground, as well as any picnic stuff you like. Shade canopies or umbrellas, beach chairs, picnic blankets, and Thermoses full of iced tea and lemonade are particularly recommended! English croquet lawn. Image from www.FreeFoto.com

While proper croquet has its set of rules, including the size of the court, and the spacing and placement of the wickets and stakes, if playing for fun at home or at the park, you can set it up in whatever space you have. Try to space the wickets and stakes at equal distances from each other, with one stake at each end of the court and one in the center. The traditional layout for the wickets is a figure-8 design, with the stakes making the ends and center of the "8" and the wickets making the sides, with one wicket also in front of each stake at each end of the court.

The object of the game is to be the first one to hit their ball through the last wicket and hit the last stake. Each player has to hit their own ball through all the wickets in order, hitting the stakes at each end and in the middle, first going one direction through all the wickets, and then going back through them all in reverse order. Each player gets one swing, or "stroke" for their turn, and if you swing and miss your ball, it still counts as a stroke! The only time you get more than one stroke for your turn is if your ball hits or touches another person's (or team's) ball as it moves after you hit it. In that case, you get to pick up your ball (you can't touch it at any other time unless you hit it out of bounds), put your ball right next to the ball that it hit or touched, and then hit your ball with a second stroke. The idea is that as you hit your ball, it hits the other one and knocks it out of the way. Then you get to take a third stroke (without picking up your ball) and hit just your own ball. Then your turn is over. All other rules are to be decided by all the players voting on whether or not to allow a certain thing in their game.
Croquet mallet, balls and stake. Image from www.FreeFoto.com.
Since you have to move around the court so much, it would be helpful to bring some different colored ribbons or clothespins so that each person can mark the next wicket or stake that they are aiming for, after they finish each turn. There are a lot more rules, as well as special croquet terms, that apply to the full, "official" version of the game, but the American Backyard version preserves the essence and fun of the game without all the complexity.

If you're in the San Jose area next month, come on down to Overfelt Gardens and join the South Bay Ladies' Tea Guild at their Croquet Picnic! Here's the info:

Date: Saturday, September 11, 2010 @ 2 pm
Location:Overfelt Gardens, 368 Educational Park Dr., San Jose
Cost: $25 per person
Suggested Costume: summer afternoon wear from 1870 through 1930, or modern “garden party” wear in pastels or white, with hats and/or parasols. Vintage picnic gear like blankets, umbrellas, etc. encouraged!

Gentlemen and children welcome! Iced tea and picnic refreshments will be provided, along with a printed copy of the American Backyard Croquet rules. If you have your own croquet set, feel free to bring it along. Bring a camera for great photo opportunities!

R.S.V.P. and send food fee by Thursday, September 9. You can send payment by PayPal or by mail. E-mail southbayladiesteaguild@yahoo.com for more information.

Yerba mate tasting in San Jose!

Yerba mate gourd with straw. Wikimedia Commons, GNU Free Documentation.
Join the South Bay Ladies' Tea Guild for their August event, which will be a tasting class featuring different kinds of yerba mate, led by local tea expert Stephanie Thompson. Yerba mate and other refreshments, and all brewing and tasting equipment will be provided. Here's the event information:

Date: Saturday, August 14, 2010, 2 p.m.
Location: a private home in the Berryessa area of San Jose.
Cost: $25 (Ladies' Tea Guild members)/ $30 (non-members)
Suggested Costume: modern dress, or South American-inspired.

Contact the South Bay Ladies' Tea Guild at southbayladiesteaguild@yahoo.com for more information or to buy a ticket. Credit card payments accepted through PayPal (e-mail and the Director can send you an invoice), until Friday, August 13th!

So what is yerba mate anyway? Yerba mate is a South American herb that has come onto the North American beverage stage within the last 10 years. It is one of the three known plants to be natural sources of caffeine, along with tea and coffee. It has been enjoyed by the Gurarani people of Paraguay, Bolivia and Brazil for centuries. The plant’s Latin name is Ilex paraguariensis, also known as the yerba tree – and a relative of the holly -- and it is native to a small area of South America. It produces leaves which are cut, dried, and infused similarly to true tea; the infusion is served in a special gourd cup – called a cuia or guampa -- and is drunk through a straw – or bombilla -- which contains a strainer to remove the leaf pieces.

As with tea and coffee, yerba mate tends to be an “acquired taste.” It is said to resemble green tea in flavor. Proponents of the beverage sometimes claim that yerba mate is caffeine-free, but that is not really true. The energy-increasing substance in yerba mate is called mateine (i.e. the energy stuff that’s in yerba mate), but it is another form of caffeine (i.e. the energy stuff that's in coffee). However, yerba mate is said to be less addictive than coffee, less likely to cause the “jitters” from over-consumption, and it shares over 100 of the almost 200 beneficial chemical compounds in true tea. It is also touted as an appetite suppressant. Come and see what it's all about!

“Tea 101: yerba mate tea”
“Know your yerba mate” by Chris Cason, Fresh Cup magazine, July 2010 issue,
“Yerba mate History and Culture”

Two tea events in San Jose this spring!

The weather is beginning to warm up a bit, and get a little less rainy (although we seem to have another storm coming in next week), and the tea social calendar is starting to pick up. Here are two tea events that are scheduled for the coming weeks and months!

South Bay Ladies' Tea Guild events:

Art Deco Hat Ornament Tea and Workshop: Our hostess has generously offered to lead the workshop and provide the supplies from her trim stash! Tea and refreshments will be provided. Bring a small sewing kit with needles, thread, pins and scissors. Older children welcome!
Date: March 13, 2010, 2 p.m.
Location: a private home in San Jose, CA.
Cost: $15 (Ladies' Tea Guild members)/$20 (non-members)
Suggested Costume: modern dress or day dress from 1920s through 1930s.

Preserving Our Past Tea and Photo Workshop: Bring up to 5 old photos with you to tea, and a flash drive or CD-ROM if you have one, and take turns scanning them and saving them in digital form. Extra CD-ROMs will be provided. Our hostess has offered to teach us how to use a scanner and prepare to have copies of our old photos printed. Gentlemen and older children welcome!
Date: Saturday, April 24, 2010 (tentative)
Location: a private home in downtown San Jose.
Cost: $20 (Ladies' Tea Guild members)/ $25 (non-members)
Suggested Costume: TBA

Payment of the ticket/food fee for each event is due 2 days before each South Bay Ladies' Tea Guild event (usually the Thursday before). The Guild can accept checks, money orders, or PayPal transactions as payment. Contact the South Bay Ladies' Tea Guild at southbayladiesteaguild@yahoo.com for more information and to R.S.V.P.!

And here is some updated information about the Cat Rescue Tea Party Fundraiser!

*Please note, the date has been changed! Due to Tax Day following so closely after the original event date, the planning committee has re-scheduled the tea party to Saturday, May 1 and Sunday, May 2. Further updates will be posted as they are obtained!

Dickens Fair costuming for women: bonnets and other headgear.

Costumer's Manifesto. Peterson's Magazine, 1850.
A hat or bonnet was necessary outdoor wear for women and girls. Although historically accurate, beautiful, hats and bonnets can be purchased from costume vendors and professional milliners (including those at the Dickens Fair), they are expensive. You can’t make a *great* hat or bonnet without study, training and a lot of work, but you can approximate a *pretty good* one with patience and a bit of handiness!

Look for thrift store and discount store hats that are made of wool felt, in a boater (narrow brim, flat crown), picture hat (wide brim, round crown) or pillbox (flat crown, no brim) shape. Ladies' "church hats" are useful for this. Take off all the modern trim, which will probably be hot-glued on. Feel free to cut your hat to make it the right shape (cover the cut edges with ribbon sewn or hot-glued on top). If the brim of the hat is large enough, you can cut off the back of the brim (behind your head), and fasten long ribbons to each side (tie them under your chin) to make it into more of a bonnet shape. If you know how to use the steam function on your iron, you can steam the felt until it's damp, re-shape it over a bowl or something that's the shape you want, and let it dry to have a better bonnet shape. This can be tricky, though, so make sure you have time to fiddle with it and practice before you need to wear the thing!

You can also cut the entire brim off of your hat, just leaving the crown, as a pillbox style hat. Some stores (like Target) sell pillbox style hats in fake fur that will look good as-is, if you just pin, glue, or sew a feather and ribbon bow on one side or the front. If all you can find is an old straw hat, be sure to hot-glue or sew some fabric over it so that no straw shows. Solid, dark-colored velvet, corduroy, wool, or thick flannel with no printed design will work for this; shape the fabric to the straw hat with pleats, making the pleats look as nice and smooth as you can, and hot-glue, safety pin or sew it in place, fastening the edges to the inside of the hat.

Cathy Decker. 1850.

Decorate your hat with ribbon, silk flowers, feathers, etc. to coordinate with your costume (it doesn’t have to match all the colors exactly), fastening the ornaments on with straight pins, safety pins, hot glue or needle and thread. Bonnets had trim edging the brim, on the sides over each ear, in a line from ear to ear over the top of the bonnet, along the back neck edge, and inside the brim framing the face. Keep your hat or bonnet on your head with a proper hat pin (like a straight pin, but 5 to 10 inches long) stuck through the hat on one side, through your hair inside the hat, and through the other side of the hat, or with small plastic combs sewn into the inside of the hat. Pillbox hats and bonnets should have long ribbon ties securely fastened (sewn or safety-pinned) to the inside, over each ear, to tie under the chin when worn. These ribbons should coordinate with the other trimmings on your hat or bonnet.

Dickens Fair costuming for women: Part 4 -- the collar and neckline.

young woman from San Francisco in the 1860s. Sense & Sensibility.
Again, when looking for a blouse to make into a bodice, choose one that has a high jewel neckline, fold-down or Peter Pan type collar or the stand-up mandarin type. These were, by far, the most common necklines on day dress bodices during Dickens' career. If your blouse bodice has a stand-up Mandarin collar, pointed, turn-down collar or rounded, Peter Pan collar, you can leave it as is, and just pin a brooch or ribbon bow at the top button when you wear it.

If you have a white button-down shirt that has a collar, however, you can cut the collar off of the business shirt, cut the collar off of the blouse bodice, and replace it with the white collar from the business shirt. That will give you the look of wearing a white linen collar, which was much more common than wearing colored collars. You have to sew it on, though, as glue and safety pins would not only be very visible so close to your face, but also be uncomfortable. Tuck all raw fabric edges (cut edge of fabric where it frays) to the inside of the neckline and make sure they're fastened down and hidden.

If you can't find a suitable thrift store blouse with a collar, to make into a bodice, then you can use certain collar-less blouse styles. If the blouse bodice has a high jewel neckline with no collar, you can use that same collar from a white thrift-store business shirt, sewing or safety-pinning it inside the neckline so that only the fold-down part of the collar, and not the band that buttons around the neck, is visible. If you like, you can also try a narrow lace collar, especially white crochet or delicate white lace, rather than ecru or other colors, or Battenburg lace; Michael's craft stores sometimes carry them, but also try to find one that is only 1 or 2 inches wide, since that was the fashionable collar size in the mid-Victorian era. The huge sailor collars, or large Battenburg lace collars should be saved for a different project, since they came around -- for adult women's clothing -- much later than the 1860s, and they're one of the things that really shout "modern" when on a Victorian costume!

If the blouse bodice has a turned back (with revers, like a camp shirt), V or squared neckline, it needs what was called a "guimpe" or "habit shirt" underneath. Visible decolletage on the street is not an appropriate look for a "decent" woman! To get this look, you should wear a modern white “dickie” with a Peter Pan style collar underneath, or cut off the upper part of a collared white shirt, including the shoulders, upper chest and collar, and wear it underneath your blouse bodice as a "dicky". Pin it inside the neckline of the blouse (make sure the pins don’t show!) so that it doesn't shift around as you wear it, and make sure all skin is covered. Accessorize with a simple, delicate brooch or grosgrain ribbon bow safety-pinned in place, and you're on your way!

Dickens Fair costume tips: getting "the look" of the period, for women, part 1

1857 fashion plate from Peterson's Magazine. Costumer's Manifesto.
Although you can purchase Victorian-inspired costumes from various sources, they tend to stand out as "modern" in a venue such as the Dickens Fair (or other living history reenactment), even to the uneducated eye that most of us have. The ultimate goal of wearing period clothing is to foster the illusion that you have just stepped out of a photograph from the period! There are many historic dressmakers who can be hired to make your outfit. Better garments are copied or styled from period fashion illustrations or actual period garments, made in historically appropriate fabrics, and sewn with historically accurate methods and fitting techniques. This kind of dressmaking is highly skilled work -- and it is absolutely worth the price if you have the money for it -- but a less expensive, fairly accurate compromise can be found if you can make your own outfit, and have the time to make it properly.

There are several sewing patterns on the market that will produce appropriate women’s and girls’ dresses from this time period; the majority are specialty patterns available from living history and reenacting community vendors, and on the Internet, and tend to be rather expensive. However, some of the better patterns, and vastly cheaper, are in The Fashion Historian group of patterns (Martha McCain and others) for Simplicity. Look for 99-cent pattern sales at Wal-mart, Jo-Ann's, or other fabric store.

In any case, avoid patterns for garments that look like they belong on Scarlett O’Hara or a dance-hall girl! No off-the-shoulders or cleavage-showing bodices, or bodices that look like they are corsets, "gypsy" skirts, short sleeves, dropped, or high "empire" waistlines. They belong to another time period, or on a Hollywood sound stage, not on the streets of London between 1840 and 1870, which is the setting for the Dickens Fair. Also, avoid the “colored skirt with white lace-trimmed blouse” look, as it was not worn in England during the mid-1800s; your costume should have the look of a one-piece dress, because that is, overwhelmingly, the “look” that the women and girls have in period photos and images.

If you can't sew an entire garment from scratch, you can alter garments that you find in stores like Savers and Goodwill. In thrift stores, look for dark colored, long-sleeved, front-buttoning blouses, and ankle-length, very full skirts, that match or coordinate with each other in color and pattern, that fit loosely or are at least one size too large for you. You will need to alter these garments to make them small enough to fit your torso more closely, but your measurements will be different when you are wearing your costume, so it is best to get something too big than something that "just fits". You can always make it smaller, but you can't always make it bigger ... Fitting tips will be in the next post!

Originals By Kay -- seller of fabric and some ready-to wear historic costume
Kay Gnagey's 19th Century Clothing Research Corner

Dickens Fair costume tips: Essential Undergarments!

Costumer's Manifesto. 1860 Crinoline, by Karl Kohler.
For men:
Male clothing of the period aimed to make the wearer look respectable, sober, well-groomed, and genteel. The clothes were supposed to fit the figure well, with none of the sloppiness or bagginess that is currently fashionable. Shirts had extra-long tails in front and back, which were always tucked into the trouser waistband and could be wrapped under the body between the legs to provide cleanliness and protection from chafing if no other undergarment was worn. Shirts were made of white linen and were considered part of the undergarments, which is why almost all of the shirt was kept covered by the coat, trousers, waistcoat, and cravat when in public!

Year-round, stockings were wool, cotton or silk (for the wealthy), what we would call "dress socks" these days, long enough to almost reach to the knee, held up with garters. In colder weather (and for the wealthier men), linen drawers could be worn under the shirt; they were about knee-length, and slightly fitted to the leg to minimize bunching under the trousers. For cold weather, knitted wool or flannel "Union Suits" were available, but none of these undergarments really changed the way the man's body looked in his clothes. That was left for the women!

It is fairly easy to approximate Victorian male underclothes for costume purposes. Modern "long johns" or boxers, and a short-sleeved white T-shirt are all you need. I recommend not wearing a tank top or sleeveless undershirt, though, because the neckline and armhole edges tend to show through your shirt if you take your waistcoat and coat off.

For women:
Female clothing of the mid-1800s created a distinctive silhouette, which depended on certain essential undergarments: the corset and petticoats. Women wore ankle to floor-length dresses with full skirts; for everyday wear, the dress bodices had high "jewel" necklines and long sleeves, and were fitted to make the torso appear smooth. A corset was necessary, and respectable middle and lower class women wore them to support and smooth the bust, torso and back. Tight-lacing, like Scarlett O’Hara did to get her 18 inch waist, was impractical for all but the wealthy, and is not necessary when you’re wearing a corset. The full skirt was held out from the hips and feet by multiple underskirts, or a hoop.

When you put together a Victorian costume, avoid just wearing your regular bra instead of a support garment like a corset, as this smooth-torso look is essential to the 19th century female appearance. Corset patterns and ready-made corsets are available, but a Merry Widow undergarment will give the modern woman a similar smooth effect. If you can't find a Merry Widow or bustier undergarment, then a bra with firm support, paired with a torso minimizer garment (one with flexible stays) can provide some of the same smoothness. As for the petticoats, you can sometimes find old wedding dresses in thrift stores, and these gowns often have an attached underskirt of tulle or netting, which can be cut from the wedding dress and worn under your costume skirt to give it some fullness. Sometimes bridal hoop skirts can be found at thrift stores, and these can be worn under your dress and underskirt; try to adjust the hoop size so that your dress skirt lies loosely over it, and avoid the “tightly-stretched” look as much as you can!

"Nineteenth-Century Fashions: a Compendium"
Cathy's Wee Victorian Fashion Page
The Costumer's Manifesto: Corsets (General Information)
The Costumer's Manifesto: Victorian Fashion Links
Elizabeth Stewart Clark's Sewing Academy

San Francisco's Great Dickens Christmas Fair is getting ready to open!

Cathy Decker. From Englishwomen's Domestic Magazine, ca. 1865.
Despite rumors of the Cow Palace being sold to a developer, and the Dickens Fair having to move, it appears that Dickens will come back to the Cow Palace this year, the same as ever! Traditionally opening the weekend after Thanksgiving, the Dickens Fair runs 6 weekends, to the weekend before Christmas. My friends in the GBACG and I are getting our costumes in gear to attend the Dickens Fair appropriately dressed! What about you? It's not too hard to pull together a reasonably historically accurate mid-Victorian costume, although you do have to do some research so you know what to look for. Too many women just choose a long skirt and white blouse, cover it with bows and lace, and think that they have the right look!

Clothing worn during Dickens’ career openly displayed the wearer’s wealth and social standing, and often their occupation, in a way that is unfamiliar to us today. Because of the difficulty and expense of creating such high-fashion clothing today, it is recommended that women and girls assembling a mid-Victorian costume dress in a manner more appropriate to the middle and lower classes of the day. It is possible to rent suitable costumes, and also to buy complete costumes from specialty dressmakers through mail order or the Internet. The least expensive option is to put together a costume from thrift store finds, if you know what to look for, but be prepared to look through the offerings of more than one store and, especially, you should be willing to make a few alterations with needle and thread, fabric glue, hot glue, or iron-on fabric tape.

General tips: Middle and lower class women and girls imitated elements of upper class fashions, as much as their budget, occupation, and leisure time would allow. Their dresses were made of simpler fabrics like wool and cotton, in solid colors, stripes, checks, or plaids. The colors they wore were mainly muted, rather than bright or true colors, as the brighter tones were created with expensive chemical dyes. Dark colors were stylish and practical, and women coordinated, rather than perfectly matched, their accessories to their dresses. Look for neutral or muted colors in natural fabrics.

The Great Dickens Christmas Fair
The Greater Bay Area Costumer's Guild (GBACG)

More Victorian events in San Jose this season!

image from Nikolay Dimitrov, www.e-Cobo.com
Afternoon Tea and Ornament Making: Sunday, November 15th, 1:00-5:00pm. At a private residence in San Jose*. RSVP to Miranda at eurohaus@earthlink.net. Please note: Because of materials and limited table space, you must RSVP for this event. This event is limited to approx 15 crafters, so please RSVP right away. “Please join us for a lively Autumn afternoon of taking Tea and making Victorian Ornaments. The ornaments we are making are to support and raise funds for the operating budget for the Andrew P. Hill House. We hope to participate in the Heritage Holiday event on Dec 6th, where the VPA will have a table at the crafts faire and sell the ornaments. All the supplies needed to create ornaments will be present, but you are welcome to bring your favorite pair of scissors, or scrapbooking tools to help you create works of art. If you have doilies, ribbon, lace or other bits n bobs that you would like to donate to the cause, please feel free to bring them (we would appreciate that). This event is free. We're asking that everyone bring a potluck contribution to the tea table. Tea will be in the English style, so think cucumber sandwiches, scones, lemon curd and such. If there is more interest, we may be able to accommodate more. *location will be sent to you upon receipt of your RSVP. Hope you can make this fun filled afternoon!”

Hill House Docent meeting: Sat Nov 14th, 10:00am till noon, Firehouse (upstairs) at History Park, 1650 Senter Road, San Jose. “Ever wonder what it takes to be a docent? Please come to the Docent meeting where all this (and more) will be discussed. We’ll meet in a comfortable casual atmosphere and learn more about the wonderful world of Docenting from Barbara Johnston. We’ll also chat about the upcoming Docent training session, where you can learn all you need to know to get involved in this fulfilling experience. What can possibly be more rewarding than sharing the beautiful Hill House, and its rich history with an appreciative public. Please pop an email or phone call to Miranda to let us know you are coming.”

Help man the table at Heritage Holiday: Sat Dec 5th from 12:00 noon till 5:00pm, at History Park, 1650 Senter Road, San José, CA 95112. (408) 287-2290. www.historysanjose.org Spend an afternoon celebrating the holidays in old fashioned Victorian style. There will be crafts for sale and other activities. We are looking for a few volunteers to help Diana and Hullene to sit at our table and sell the ornaments and other items to raise money for the Hill House operating fund. It's just a few hours spent in the festive atmosphere of History Park. Please contact Miranda if interested in helping out. Thanks!’

Fun local things to do this weekend!

image from the Halloween Cavern of Clipart.
Well, Halloween has come around again, can you believe it? Lots of kids will be trick-or-treating tonight, but adults don't have to feel left out of the fun. Even if you don't like traditional Halloween parties, you can throw a Halloween (or Autumn, if you don't care to celebrate Halloween) tea party for yourself and some friends! The menu can include cookies, sandwiches, and scones cut with Halloween or autumn-themed cookie cutters, or decorated according to theme, for fun.

Then, there are the seasonal activities. In San Jose, a few options exist:

Haunted History: Saturday, October 31, from 1 to 4 p.m. History Park, 1650 Senter Rd., San Jose, CA 95118. Admission: $2 per person or $5 for four people. Please bring non-perishable food donations for the Second Harvest Food Bank. "Join us for an old fashioned, scare-free Halloween party -- a fun, safe, and family-friendly experience for all. Trick or treat at the historic houses in the park. Costume parade and contest. Trolley rides. Wrap-a-mummy contest. Jack-o-lantern contest. Halloween Story Time." http://www.historysanjose.org/calendar/091031hauntedhistory.html
San Jose Women’s Club Holiday Bazaar: Saturday, October 31 and Sunday, November 1, 2009. 9:00 am–4:00pm. Location: 75 South 11th Street, San Jose, CA 95112. (408) 294-6919 • info@sjwomansclub.org. On Sunday, from Noon–2:00 pm, $5 per item, Steve Yvaska,“The Antiques Advisor” for the San Jose Mercury News and author of the Seasoned Collector, will appraise items.* *Some antique categories may not be appraised. Admission: $1.00 or 1 can of food for Second Harvest Food Bank. Free street parking or paid parking at the S. 10th St. and E. San Fernando St. Garage.

Whatever you do, stay safe and have fun!

"How to give a Halloween tea party"
"Slightly spooky savory black olive scones."

2010 Tea in London Tour

One of my tea world friends from an e-mail discussion list, Denise LeCroy, writer of the Uniquely Tea blog, is advertising her next tea tour. Because some of the readers of this blog are located in the U.K., I thought you all might be interested in reading about Denise's tours in England.

"Do you have a passion for something, or perhaps a passion for several “somethings”? Hello! My name is Denise LeCroy and I have several passions – tea, travel and London.
Several years ago, I married a man from London and left the United States to live with him in that most glorious of cities. I had visited London before with friends, but living there was a dream of a lifetime. I think I dragged my poor husband to every tearoom, tea shop and tea event in London during those years!

When we returned to the states, I settled into married life on this side of the pond and the days and weeks proceeded smoothly until a routine mammogram showed an abnormality that turned out to be breast cancer. Early detection saves lives. Surgery and radiation followed immediately, all went well, and today I celebrate being four years cancer free.

Throughout those soul-searching months of recovery my illness forced upon me a new perspective on many things…life, relationships, what matters and what doesn’t matter. I was given a second chance and was reminded that it was time to dust off my dreams and goals and aspirations that had been neglected for far too long.

I thought about my passions and how I wanted to further pursue them. I already had been a local tea educator for quite some time and although I was also a seasoned traveler, I studied to become a London Destination Specialist. I realized that London’s rich tea history was being virtually neglected by the travel industry, and so I started Tea in London tours - the perfect combination of my love for tea, travel and London.

English Afternoon Tea at traditional and non-traditional venues is a daily event on our tours, together with a combination of other unique activities that include guided walks through areas in London where the tea trade once ruled England’s commerce; visits to museums and galleries to discover old and new tea treasures; journeys to gardens and ancestral homes of early English tea drinkers; and much more. (I can assure you that if one digs deep enough - and I have - one can find a tea-connection to almost anything in London!)

We use a charming hotel in Bloomsbury as our base. It’s a great, quiet location. All of our transport is on a private, comfortable air-conditioned coach and my favorite London Blue Badge Guide, Sarah, accompanies us every day. She loves tea, and you will love her. But Tea in London is not strictly for tea lovers as we encounter many of London’s famous places and landmarks. Opportunities for shopping are built-in, as well as a free day to privately experience London.

The next Tea in London tour is scheduled for September 13-18, 2010 and I am happy to announce that it will include an optional full-day Tea Masterclass with tea expert Jane Pettigrew. I invite you to visit our website http://www.TeaInLondon for more information about the Masterclass and about the tour. I hope 2010 will be the year that you have Tea in London!
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If you would like more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview with Denise LeCroy, ring 843.901.0642 or send an email to admin@teainlondon.com"

I can't afford to travel these days, but if you are in the London area, or you have enough spare cash to join this tour, I hope you have a wonderful time!

Did you make it to the Antique Car Show in San Jose last weekend?

image from ClipartETC.

If you didn't, a couple of nice people took some video of the event and posted it on YouTube.

This clip is about 7 minutes long: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sPNLmRM9js&feature=related

And this one is about 3 minutes long: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sPNLmRM9js&feature=related

Fun! Wish you were there!

Fun things to do in San Jose.

Elizabeth Urbach. Tatting shuttles and lace on display at History Park.












1. Go to a World War 2-era living history event!

Third Annual Day of Remembrance: Saturday, August 8, 2009. Noon to 5 p.m. History Park, 1650 Senter Rd., San Jose, CA 95112. Free admission. “Keep the Spirit of '45 Alive! Where were YOU when World War II ended? Join us for an exciting fun-filled afternoon as we honor the legacy of America’s “greatest generation” by commemorating the end of World War II in August 1945. * Parade at 1 pm * Special guest, Edith Shain, the nurse from the famous "VJ Day at Times Square" photograph * Visit the Home Front exhibit in the Pacific Hotel Gallery * Share where YOU were when the War ended * Dance to music of The Swing Solution * Visit World War II Living Historians * Singing Blue Stars of the USS Hornet. Bring the whole family and help make history! For more information call 408.918.1042.”

2. See a great exhibit of local 19th century textiles before it closes!

She Made It!: The Tradition of Women’s Arts and Crafts in Santa Clara Valley – exhibit extended through August 16, 2009. Leonard & David McKay Gallery at the Pasetta House, History Park, 1650 Senter Rd., San Jose. Friday through Sunday, 12 noon - 5 pm. “‘She Made It! The Tradition of Women’s Arts and Crafts in Santa Clara Valley’ is an exhibition of over 35 handmade items that explores the transition of women’s craftmaking from that of utilitarian production or social development tool to a form of art and individual expression. Mostly selected from History San Jose’s collection, the exhibit includes quilts and samplers, clothing and accessories, baskets and hair work, many of which are on display for the first time. Three generations of hand-made wedding dresses provide visual cues of how times have changed from 1895 to 1982. ... The San Jose State Textile Program was once a component of the Home Economics department. Students were instructed in clothing and fabric design, and produced many of the artifacts that will be on display. Although this department dissolved in 1987, instruction in weaving and textile arts can still be found on campus through the School of Art & Design.”

A ball at Chawton, Jane Austen's home!

image from AntiqueClipArt.com

The founder of Cisco Systems, Sandy Lerner, is a Jane Austen fan, and she bought Chawton Cottage -- a rather large and beautiful country home, I think -- which was Jane Austen's home. Lerner has restored the home and filled the library with a collection of 18th and 19th century books written by women. On Saturday, July 18, the anniversary of Jane Austen's death, Lerner gave a Regency ball at Chawton. Here is the BBC video report of the event:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/world_news_america/8152793.stm

Makes me wish I was in England!