The Tea Party

1873-1894

The first populist tea party movement came in the form of colonial-themed dinners during the Centennial Celebration, marking the country’s hundredth birthday, in 1876. The festive gatherings featured the simple fare of the colonial period, quaintly described in an antiquated style of English. Such dinners would come into fashion again during the last decade of the nineteenth century. This time, however, they reflected a broader nostalgia for the colonial period in response to social forces shaping the country.

Let There Be Peace

Richmond, Virginia
1883

On October 15, 1883, one hundred and eighty-nine men, mostly Union veterans of the Civil War, boarded a train in Newark, New Jersey heading for Richmond. Shortly after their arrival the next day, they attended a banquet with veterans who had served in the armies of both sides. When I discovered a menu from the dinner, oddly printed on an old Confederate banknote, I became curious about the purpose of their visit to the former capital of the Confederacy.