I have found a (tea) fashion accessory that has never gone out of popularity. Maybe you have one. If you do, I hope it is in use in your home – and used for its intended purpose.
The Tea Cosy, seems to be as popular now as it ever was. Indeed, on searching through the Web I have realised that tea cosies are making a resurgence in popularity and becoming the designer item must have in the kitchen and on the tea table.
A tea cosy (American English tea cozy) is a cover for a teapot, traditionally made of cloth or wool, which is used to insulate the tea, keeping it warm while it brews. Cloth tea cosies often have padded inserts, which can be removed and washed separately.
Tea cosies are often available in matching sets with other items such as tablecloths, oven gloves, or aprons. Cloth tea-cosies may be embroidered, perhaps to compliment a fine set of china. Some have been made with hidden pockets to be filled with fragrant herbs or flowers, similar to a potpourri.
Many tea cosies in Britain are hand-knitted, resembling woollen hats, even featuring a bobble on top.
Although the history of the tea cosy may begin when tea was introduced to Britain in the 1660s, the first documented use of a tea cosy in Britain was in 1867. It is probably the Duchess of Bedford who, by establishing the activity of afternoon tea in 1840, would have brought the popularity of the tea cosy. Afternoon tea was the time for networking and keeping up to date with aristocracy gossip and topical news. With all the chatter at teatime the teapot would get cold, which would have at times cut short some tea parties. And so, the tea cosy came about. Tea cosies then flourished during the late 1800s, where they appeared in many households across Britain, motivated by the obsession of decorating and covering objects characteristic of the Victorian era.
Tea cosies started to be used in North America in the same period. Newspapers of the time reveal that tea cosies enjoyed "a sudden and unexpected rise in public favor" among women who hosted tea parties. Newspapers of the time included advice columns on how to make one: "Some very handsome ones are made of remnants of heavy brocade, but linen is generally used, embroidered or not, according to taste, as these covers are washable. Make the covering large enough for your teapot and provide a ring at the top to lift it off with."
I realised that my tea table is very uncool. I don’t have a tea cosie. I know that it will be the first thing I buy when I move house – or even before, if I find a local fete or handmade item sale close by.
I am not so fond of the knitted variety of cosy, I am more partial to the quilted fabric type. I found so many on the web (mainly thanks to Google images). I also found many websites dedicated to this utilitarian and clever teapot warmer.
Some Wiki trivia:
• Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Buffy mentions she wants to be left alone in a room with a tea cosy. I just want to be alone in a room with an open fire and a tea cosy, and I don't even know what a tea cosy is but I want one! (Buffy, in ANNE season 3)
• In the movie Snatch, Boris the Blade shoots Frankie "Four Fingers" while he is tied to a chair with a tea cosy on his head. This then results in several subsequent characters asking, "What has he got a tea cosy on his head for?" including the police who find him in the boot of a stolen car.
• In the Harry Potter series, Dobby the house elf wears a tea cosy as a hat.
• According to the television program QI, there is a 1 in 20 billion chance of death by a tea cosy.
• According to comedian Billy Connolly, if a man is left alone in a room with a tea cosy, and he does not attempt to wear it on his head, he should not be trusted.
• "Rogue knitters encamped along the Berkeley-Oakland border with lawn chairs, tea cakes and knitting projects to protest the city of Berkeley's order that they remove an 8-foot knitted tea cozy they sewed over the T in a public sculpture they believe insults Oakland."
Maybe you would like to knit a proper English Tea cosie?
Or make an animal tea cosy from felt?
Or buy some very cute and clever handmade tea cosies from Australia
And see some websites dedicated to this unique tea time item.
Remember, your tea pot needs to be kept warm - and more importantly LOOK GROOVY! Get your tea cosy out and start a cosy conversation!
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