The Victorian Ladies Tea Society of Philadelphia was founded in the summer of 1999, by a group of ladies who were fans of Victoria magazine. Meetings are held approximately eight to ten times a year, in the Philadelphia metropolitain area as well as NJ. We meet in tea rooms, hotels, and members homes. In addition to having afternoon tea, we have also attended various events that feature a Victorian or tea related theme. Our past events include viewing a collection of tea pots at the Chester County Historical Society; a trip to the Atwater Kent Museum to view their exhibit about carousels, which had their heydey during the Victorian era (1837 - 1901); the Philadelphia Antiques Show which included an exhibit of dinnerware of presidential and royal families. We have traveled to Cape May, NJ on two separate occasions, taking tea and a tour of the Emlen-Physic estate, a private home which is now a museum, which was designed by one of the most famous architects of the Victorian era, Frank Furness. We also had the opportunity to attend some of the events of the Cape May semi-annual Victorian Week. Over the last ten years, several of our members have graciously opened their homes to our tea group, and we have had baby showers for two of our younger members. In April of 2009 we celebrated our 10th anniversary by attending the "Coffee and Tea Festival" in New York City, followed by afternoon tea at Lady Mendl's Tea Salon in Gramercy Park.
