THE LITTLE TEA BOOK 



resque or interesting occasion, at best. 

 To the traditional Englishman's mind 

 it means simply a qniet evening at 

 home, attended by the papers, and 

 serious conversations in which the 

 head of the house deals out politi- 

 cal and domestic wisdom until ten 

 o'clock. During the day, tea-taking 

 begins with breakfast and rounds up 

 on the fashionable thoroughfares in 

 the afternoon. Here one may see 

 the Britishers at their best and worst. 

 These places are called " tea-shops/' 

 and in them one may acquire the 

 latest hand-shake, the freshest tea 

 and gossip, see the newest modes and 

 millinery, meet and greet the whirl 

 of the world. An interesting study 

 of types, in contrasts and conditions 

 of society, worth the price of a whole 

 chest of choice tea. 



69 



