Dainty turn-of-the-century teacups held a powerful message: Women are equal to men.
“The women’s suffrage movement used teas a lot to raise money and to raise awareness,” said Sara Velasquez, co-owner of the Sweet Shalom Tea Room in Sylvania. “It was kind of like a screen to hide behind. The women would have these [Pink Teas], and they would bring up their cause and talk about their cause under the cover of these very feminine outward appearances.”
The Sweet Shalom Tea Room hosted a Pink Tea on Sunday, in honor of the centennial of women’s right to vote. The Pink Tea was a throwback to the teas that suffragists held in the years leading up the ratification of the 19th Amendment on Aug. 18, 1920.
Pink Teas were opportunities to organize and strategize in their pursuit for equal rights, with the politely and acceptably feminine setting of a tea party there to provide cover for those attendees whose husbands and relatives would have disapproved of their participation in the cause.
Ms. Velasquez shared their history with attendees between courses on Sunday.
“We serve out information and inspiration, along with tea and good food,” she said.
Sweet Shalom Tea Room hosts additional Pink Teas on Friday and Sunday.
Reservations are required; go to sweetshalomtearoom.com or call 419-297-9919.
About 30 women attended an afternoon seating of the Pink Tea on Sunday, beginning with tea and almond scones as the first of four courses over two hours.
Jerry Taylor and Ann Arvidson, of Saline, Mich., opted for a pink grapefruit-flavored white tea.
They’re regulars at the Sweet Shalom Tea Room, where they celebrate each other’s birthdays each year. They said between sips that they weren’t familiar with the history of Pink Teas, but they always look forward to the presentations that accompany themed teas.
Ms. Velasquez said the tea room adjusts the theme and the menu each month.
“Just about every tea we’ve ever had here has had some sort of presentation,” Ms. Arvidson said. “It’s always very interesting and informative.”
At a window-facing table across the room, Sherry Shenkman, Donna Warren, Dolores Ellerbrock and Sandy Herzig spoke similarly. The friends meet every month at Sweet Shalom.
“Every month it’s something new,” Ms. Shenkman said. “We just really enjoy being here.”
Ms. Velasquez researched the role of teas in the women’s suffrage movement for the Pink Tea, and she walked the attendees through some of the history of women’s rights. While women’s right to vote was ratified in 1920, she pointed out that the rights of all women of color to vote weren’t fully and legally protected until the civil rights movement in 1965.
She also discussed the suffragists’ methodology, including the teas and the cookbooks that they would sell. The cookbooks were also a means of raising money and raising awareness.
“There are thousands of recipes, and here and there, if you read carefully through it, you’ll find little bits of propaganda tucked into it,” Ms. Velasquez said, offering as an example a historic recipe for a “Suffragist’s Pie for a Doubting Husband.”
Mix the the crust “with tact and velvet gloves,” the recipe-writer recommends, “using no sarcasm especially with the upper crust.”
“So again,” Ms. Velasquez said, “they were using this feminine covering to protect themselves from attack and to educate women.”
First Published February 16, 2020, 11:48 p.m.
