Etiquette for Numbered Teaspoons

Teapot spouts sometimes got choked up. so the long handle of the spoon with a pierced bowl (the rare ‘mote spoon’) that succeeded the silver strainer was thrust down the spout to disperse the leaves. ~

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What have we here? A Georgian Era tea bowl and tea cup. – The tea bowl and tea cup are based on early Chinese tea cups and bowls with no handles, however it is a bit larger. This Georgian Era cup is shown with 2 period mote spoons and Georgian tea tongs, to better show the size.

 – Image from “What Have We Here?: The Etiquette and Essentials of Lives Once Lived, from the Georgian Era through the Gilded Age and Beyond...”

In the early days of tea drinking, when the brew was rare and costly, numbered spoons were used. It was not etiquette for a guest to ask for a second cup until all the company had finished the first. The numbered spoons therefore insured each getting his own cup back again. As a sign to the hostess that no more tea was wanted, the spoon was placed in the cup.

Even when etiquette was a fetish, teapot spouts sometimes got choked up. so the long handle of the spoon with a pierced bowl that succeeded the silver strainer was thrust down the spout to disperse the leaves. “Etiquette,” remarks Arthur Hayden in “Chats on Old Silver,” “forbade the hostess to blow down the spout.” — San Luis Obispo Daily Telegram, October 1915

🍽️Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia 

Etiquette at Club Teas

As has long been custom, being asked to pour at a tea is an honor. It should always be looked upon as just that. If a hostess asks you to pour at her afternoon tea, she sees you as friendly, cheerful, competent and, probably, a person who is tidy and detailed. — “If sufficient members of the committee take turns at pouring, it should not be too tiring for any one of them, and there is no question that club hostesses at the tea table would create a more friendly atmosphere.” ~ Emily Post, 1937

Let the Women Pour

Dear Mrs. Post: Our women's club is giving a large tea for approximately a hundred and fifty guests. Would you suggest that it is better at a tea of this size to let the hotel do all the serving, or do you think it more friendly to have members of the committee preside at the tea table?

Answer: At a tea for as many as fifty, the details of serving are more often than not taken care of by the caterers, or by the servants in a private house. However, in your case, if sufficient members of the committee take turns at pouring, it should not be too tiring for any one of them, and there is no question that club hostesses at the tea table would create a more friendly atmosphere. In any case, all the other details of replacing used cups and saucers with fresh ones and replenishing sandwiches and cakes and passing them will be taken care of by the hotel. 

Emily Post in “Good Taste Today,” 1937

🍽Etiquette Enthusiast, Maura J. Graber, is the Site Editor for the Etiquipedia© Etiquette Encyclopedia