Peter Gw Keen

Heroines of Tea Peter Gw Keen

Tea pervades the history, present and much of the future of society across the globe; nutrition, war, trade, social reform, science, health and crafts. Women have been written out of most of this history. They sit and sip as gracious hostesses while men create businesses, and invent the tea bag and Earl Grey. But both of these were the work of women, who were also the pioneers in retailing, services and quality. Tea was a key resource and weapon in the long fight for Women's Rights, as very much the equivalent of social media today. This book centers around ten Heroines - women who achieved greatness through tea while facing barriers everywhere. From the 1300s to the late 1800s, married women were legally property, not persons. That makes their innovations heroic. Penelope Barker led the 1774 Edenton Tea Party boycott of British goods, Oura Kei single-handedly created the Japanese tea export trade, Elizabeth Cady Stanton turned a tea gathering into one of the great revolutionary moments of history, Catherine Cranston set a standard in tea room design and service that is still unmatched, and Elizabeth Petrovna created the Russian tea trade and culture. These are just a few of the figures profiled, with lessons from the about innovation, entrepreneurship and social reform