TEA & SNACKS TEA AT THE TABLE
SNACKS ON THE RUN
It wasn’t an etiquette class, but it was close. The semi-formal
Tucked into the southeast corner of the old gym [now the
life for many an alumnus. The mandatory weekend event,
quick bite. The Jigger Shop was an old fashioned soda fountain
Sunday Teas held at the Sheriff House were a ritual of student however, was attended more because it was a requirement than a chance to sip tea.
“On Sunday we had to go to chapel, then lunch, and then tea,” said Buff Crossley ’67. Held in the late 50s and the early 60s,
that served hot dogs, buttered rolls, cake slices, candy, and chips. The shop was next to the students’ mailboxes so the location made for a lot of foot traffic. It closed when the gym was
converted into the Gideon Welles Dining Commons in 1967.
the teas took place in the parlor room of Headmaster Arthur
“I would get sodas there,” said Dupre. He was given an
upper crust etiquette,” Crossley added. “It was very Victorian,”
other students at the recommendation of the administration.
Sheriff ’s house on the Green. “There was a little of the lesson of noted Don Scott, past student ’59-’62. Mrs. Charlotte Sheriff served the tea, he said. “She would smile up at you and you would say, ‘Thank you very much, Mrs. Sheriff.’”
Alumnus and Senior Master Emeritus Bevan Dupre ’69 said the practice of having tea on Sunday came from an earlier
generation. “It was a carry over from our grandparents.” Still, “it wasn’t the kind of event where you drank from a cup with your pinky sticking out,” Crossley added.
Academy tradition did require a specific type of clothing. “You
had to get all nice and dressed up in jackets and ties,” said Scott. He added that the real reason for the event was to make sure the students were still on campus. The boys had to sign in as they entered the room and then they would be served. “We didn’t hang around very long,” said Bill Eddy ’61.
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Gideon Welles Dining Commons] was a favorite spot for a
the magazine of cheshire academy
allowance of two dollars a week from his parents, as were many The Jigger Shop was affordable, if not gourmet. “I ate a lot
of onion rolls,” said Eddy. “They were toasted and covered in
butter.” The warm roll would set a student back 25 cents. Rick
LaCrosse ’68 was a day student, known in those times as a “day-
hop.” He remembers the hot dogs were boiled and kept warm in the boiler during the day.
The favorite choice for English Teacher Rosanne Balogh
Ferraro ’74 was milkshakes. She visited the Jigger Shop in the late 60s and remembers the 50s-style counter and stools. A
picture from the 1966 “Rolling Stone” yearbook shows a bright red machine against a wall with the wording “Ice Cold Coca
Cola.” Back-lighted signs advertised Sprite and the menu board above the counter informed students that milk costs 15 cents.
