Old Things Considered
Advice and trivia for the do-it-yourselfer
Ghislaine Darden © 2008

I have a “Pembroke table” and wanted to know where the term “Pembroke” came from and was this table used to serve tea? -- Natalie S.

Your Pembroke table was an “occasional table,” with a multitude of functions. But serving tea would not be one of them; a special table was reserved for serving tea.

The Pembroke table is a small table with 4 legs and drop-leaves that dropped to the sides, and one or two small front shallow drawers in the center. The dropped sides could be propped upward, supported by brackets, increasing the flat surface of the table. This table was a very popular style in the 18th century and according to Thomas Sheraton, the famous 18th century cabinet maker, it was first designed for the Countess of Pembroke.

By contrast, a tea table had a circular and often a pie crust top (yes, shaped just like your apple pie crust) which sat on a “birdcage” mechanism, allowing the top flat surface to tilt and stand vertically for storage. The table was supported by tripod legs, often with ball & claw decorative feet.

The tea tradition was introduced to England around 1699, by King Charles II and his Portuguese bride the Infanta Catherine de Braganza. By 1750, tea had replaced ale as the most popular beverage, and established itself as an integral part of the afternoon meal between 3 or 5 PM. This meal was to be called “low tea” and was served on a table lower than the traditional dining room. High tea was served later in the day, between 5 and 6 pm on high dining room tables. Essentially, the working class enjoyed High Tea with their dinner after a long day of hard work.

Did You Know…

. . . that there were summer and winter candies? During the hot summer of 1912 in Cleveland, chocolatier Clarence Crane had a slump of sales at his local store and wanted to develop a summer confection to carry him through the financially difficult summer months. While on an excursion to the local druggist for flavoring materials, Clarence observed the druggist using a manual pill making machine; flattening his pills. Clarence surmised that the same machine could stamp out his white circular summer mint candies that he had recently developed.

Clarence had another idea too; punch a tiny hole in the middle of the flattened circular candy. This would make it similar in appearance to the new devices now being stocked on ocean liners: a life-preserver ring that could be thrown to anyone who fell overboard.

Trading on that spring’s disaster aboard SS Titanic, Clarence would name and advertise his candies as “Crane’s Peppermint Life Savers – Scent—For That Stormy Breath.”

Now you might think that Clarence had hit the lottery with his newly invented summer candy! But no, Clarence would sell the mint candy rights to Edward J. Noble the next year for $2,900, barely $60,000 in today’s value. Noble went on to found the Life Savers Candy Company in 1913, and would introduce the popular 5 flavor pack in 1934.

Edward was a marketing wizard, installing Lifesaver displays next to the cash registers of restaurants, saloons, cigar stores, drug stores, barber shops and grocery stores and training the retail store owners to always return a nickel in change to the customer. Why you ask, so the customer could purchase that popular Five Flavor Life Saver pack with his nickel change!

Ghislaine Darden of Benner Street is an old house enthusiast and a Highland Park resident since 1984. Send her your antique and restoration questions to oldthings@hpmirror.com