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VOL. 44, NO. 8 FRIDAY FEBRUARY 22, 2013
Doing The Java Jive: Collecting Coffee & Tea Sets, That Is... By Donald-Brian Johnson
“
I
love coffee, I love tea, I love the java jive and it loves me. Coffee and tea, the java and meA cup, a cup, a cup, a cup, a cup!” “Java Jive” by Milton Drake & Ben Oakland, 1940 Short. Tall. Grande. Frappé. Cappuccino. Frappuccino. You know the drill. You walk into the coffee chain outlet that popped up overnight at the end of your block. A bevy of beverages awaits. What will it be today? Latte? Flavored Latte? Dolce Latte? Gosh, where’s a cup of regular “joe” when you really need it? But there’s one thing you can be sure of: when your drink arrives, in all its steaming, blistering-hot glory, it will arrive in a cardboard cup. Coffee. Tea. How far you’ve fallen. But it wasn’t always so. Once, in the not-so-distant past, product and presentation shared equal billing. Coffee and tea were more than just things to be guzzled as quickly as possible, in hopes of staying awake. Gathering to enjoy either was an event to be celebrated in style, whether that event was a neighborhood coffee klatsch in the Midwest (complete with freshfrom-the-oven coffee cake), or high tea in the high-class surroundings of New York City’s Palm Court. When things look better, they taste better - and making beverages look better was the job of beautifully wrought coffee and tea services. These sets attracted consumers throughout the twentieth century, and continue to fascinate collectors today. But first, a bit of background. Coffee Break The origins of coffee and tea are the stuff of legend. Coffee, it’s said, originated in the wilds of Ethiopia, in about 850 A.D. Kaldi, an observant goatherd, noted that when his goats gobbled
berries from a specific tree, they became especially energetic. Kaldi gobbled a f e w
himself, with similar results. The abbot of the local monastery, when made aware of the goatherd’s discovery, ground the berries into a drink, and tried some. The result: no more naps during nighttime prayer. Coffee’s reputation as a A Fiesta festival: chartreuse creamer and sugar ($50 to $60/pair); persimmon teapot (8 inches high, $70 to $75), and cobalt coffeepot (10 inches high, $70 to $75).
restorative swept the globe, even though there were those who darkly railed against it, calling coffee a “bitter invention of Satan”. In the 1600s, Pope Clemente VIII came to the rescue, proclaiming “this beverage is so good, it would be a sin to let only pagans drink it.” Coffee’s status as a world-class beverage was assured. Tea Time Equally romanticized is the origin of tea. That 2737 B.C. discovery is credited to Shan Nong, Emperor of China. The play-it-safe Emperor always boiled his drinking water, and one day several tea leaves fell into the bubbling froth.
A sampling from a deluxe Limoges blue-and-white coffee set with gold accents. Complete service for 8: $6,000 to $8,000. (Photo by Leslie Piña)
drop”!
Robj “Turk” tea set. Tallest Yes, the drinks were piece, 8-1/2 inches high. delectable. But their serving With four cups and saucers, $4,000 to sets were even better. At Your Service $5,000/set. (Photo by The most traditional cofL e s l i e fee and tea sets were “silver Piña)
services” which, in the early twentieth century, held pride of place on family sideboards (many still do). These revered exemplars of gracious living, (often received as wedding pre(A sents), were usually momentary put to their intended use on suspension of disbelief is called for here: why was the Emperor only the most extra-special boiling water under a tea bush? Or of occasions (for instance, boiling water at all? Where were more weddings). Polishing up silver’s the servants?) In any event, the Emperor found the heady scent of stodgy image for mid-twentieth century consumers the resulting brew were such designers as irresistible. Taking Lurelle Guild, whose coffee first and tea sets for International Silver abandoned time-honored curlicues, focusing instead on clean, curving line. Others silver set trend-setters included Zeister of Holland, and Christofle. When the one Depression years s i p , dawned, however, a new and then type of metal service was anothcalled for, one that provided e r , buyers with the look of lux- Chase & Sanborn ad, Woman’s Home h e ury, at a less-than-luxurious Companion, July, 1955. soon price. That solution came felt invigpreviously untapped market: the orated. The next day, by courtesy of the Chase Brass & in-house creation of elegant metal royal decree, tea bushes Copper Company of Waterbury, giftware at prices just right for sprang up throughout the Connecticut. Depression-era pocketbooks. The Established in the 1870s, Chase palace gardens. resulting line of The Java Jive Chase brass, copNow, whether Kaldi the per, and chrome Goatherd and the Emperor Shan “specialties” found Nong really had anything to do eager fans until the with the rise of coffee and tea to onset of World War lip-smacking prominence will II. never be known. What is known Chase houseis that by the mid-twentieth cenwares combined tury, both beverages were here to usefulness with stay, solidly entrenched in attractiveness, a American pop culture. They major calling card were celebrated in song, from of the many indusIrving Berlin’s “Let’s Have trial designers who Another Cup Of Coffee (And brought their talLet’s Have Another Piece Of ents to the compaPie),” to the Vincent ny. From “drinking Youmans/Irving Caesar perenniaccessories” to al, “Tea For Two”. Folks were “smoker’s articles”, glued to their radio sets for Chase covered the Maxwell House Coffee Time basics of 1930s (with Fanny Brice as “Baby daily living. Snooks”), and The Chase & Prominent among Sanborn Hour (with Edgar those basics: dinBergen and Charlie McCarthy). ing. In addition to a And, when radio gave way to vast array of television, viewers couldn’t help servers, bowls, humming along to the jingle that plates and jugs, opened Arthur Godfrey’s Talent Chase “Table Scouts: “You know it’s Lipton Electrics” and Tea if it’s B-R-I-S-K!” “Buffet Service And oh, those slogans - they Sigma cat teapot, “The Tastesetter,” a B. Kliban design, Articles” included a were everywhere! What was “the 1970s. 12 inches high, $100 to $120. plentiful helping of “best part of wakin’ up”? tea and coffee sets. “Folger’s in your cup,” of course. originally focused on the manufac- These streamlined Chase releases Smart shoppers were eager to “fill ture of component parts for other embraced the “machine age” aesit to the rim with Brim”. And just firms’ products (everything from thetic of Art Deco. how good was Maxwell House? brass bed tubing to umbrella tips). A shining star in the Chase Why, it was “good to the last In the early 1930s, Chase saw a (Continued on page 2)