Although it was not a common habit among Americans in the 50’s, Mother and Daddy enjoyed chatting over a good cup of tea. Mother liked the ritual so much that she served tea to friends who dropped by, she served tea to us children after school… for all we knew she served herself cup after cup of tea when she was by herself.
She often was given tea cups and saucers as gifts and if you include all the cups and saucers she had in her various china patters, she probably had somewhere near 3 dozen sets, many of which were imported from England. But certain cups and saucers were a little more special than others.
This cup is one of a series of Birthday Flowers. It is decorated with aster flowers, the flower which on many charts represents September. Mother gave this cup and saucer to her own mother whose birthday was in the middle of that month. Eventually it came to Mother and then because my birthday was also in September it came to me.
This cup was especially beloved of us children. When we were little we could hardly believe that anyone could drink from such a wonderfully shaped cup and we’d watch in awe as Mother sipped from its fluted edge. When I was older, Mother and I often came together to share a cup of tea in the late afternoon. Mother would take this second cup out of the cupboard, set it down on the table and then she and I would debate very seriously which one of us had had the more difficult day. The winner had the honor of drinking from this special cup. It may not have been up to the caliber of the prizes on the game show Queen for a Day, but it was comforting, nonetheless.
