I enjoy looking at books in used book stores and am especially happy when I find a book about tea or entertaining dated before 1978 (has to do with copywrites.)  I found this book by Florence Brobeck dated 1960 and find the information useful, if somewhat dated.  The again, there haven’t been a lot of changes, except maybe the part about the maid’s uniform.  Enjoy.

 pg 386    THE FAMILY BOOK OF HOME ENTERTAINING

“How to Give a Tea   A tea is an afternoon party which can take on various degrees of formality.  In its simplest form, it is a gathering of friends to drink tea, partake of light refreshments, and talk.  In its more formal aspect, it is a reception for a visiting notable, the new club president, or some other important person.  Also, a large tea is the kind of open-house hospitality well suited to various family occasions, such as a Sunday afternoon reception in honor of a son who has just been ordained in the priesthood or the ministry, or for a son or daughter who has completed study at a missionary school and is about to leave for foreign duty.  Also a tea, because of its light menu and the daylight hours, is ideal for entertaining elderly members of I lie family.

“For a young hostess a tea is one of the least complicated forms of entertaining, as well as the least expensive, for a large number of guests.  The size of your living room and dining room and your supply of wares for the tea table determine the degree of formality and the atmosphere of the occasion.  All details must be planned well in advance of the date, as for any other form of entertaining.

“Invitations should go out about ten days before the party.  A simple card is usually sent for a tea, such as your calling card, or a fold-over card or any card which has your name or monogram on it, or a card which has printed on it something such as, “An Invitation to Tea” or a little drawing of a steaming teapot.

If you use your calling card, simply write below your name:

Tea

Thursday, March 5^th

 3 to 5 o’clock

And if your address and telephone number are not on the card, add them.  If you use fold-overs or other informals write the same kind of invitation, adding your name if it is not printed or engraved on the card.

“Menu The customary menu for a tea includes plain bread and butter, the bread cut very thin and crusts left on; assorted small sandwiches; small hot canapes and cheese tartlets; pound cake cut in thick slices and then into narrow, long pieces easily picked up and eaten with the fingers; tiny cream puffs, miniature cupcakes, jam-filled cookies, petits fours.  Fine-quality mints or other candies, and fresh salted almonds, pecans, or filberts, belong on the tea table with the two beverages, tea and coffee, and their accompaniments.

“As for other parties, the tea menu must be planned, food shopped for, and the preparation done with exactness.  Read your cookbook on how to make and serve tea, and on how to make tea sandwiches.  One of the serious chores preceding a big tea is making the sandwiches.  They should be made early on the day of the tea, which means that you or someone else must schedule morning time for the job.

“They should be varied and delicious, with one or more sweet fillings, such as currant jelly with cream cheese, marmalade, or apple butter.  Others of thin ham or chicken, cucumber, and water cress mixed with mayonnaise are favorites.  Nut bread and other unusual breads should be used as well as paper-thin white bread.  The fillings should be thin, and the round, square, triangular, and other small, shaped sandwiches should be just the right size to be picked up and eaten from the fingers.  (They must be kept fresh until tea time.  Place them on platters, cover securely with waxed paper, then with a wet towel, and place in refrigerator.)  The number of sandwiches needed?  Some hostesses count on a minimum of three for each guest invited, others four sandwiches each.

“The sandwiches are such an important part of the tea repast, because of their variety, necessary freshness, different shapes, and unusual fillings, and to make them is so time-consuming that many experienced hostesses order them made outside the home by experts.  In all cities, as well as many smaller communities, there are catering services, food shops, restaurants, or other sources of good tea sandwiches.  Even in small towns, there may be retired cooks or a butler who can be relied upon to help out at local parties, and who will make sandwiches and other foods in their own kitchen and deliver them on the day of the party.

“Some such service may be available to you if you will make inquiry and should be considered, unless you have friends or relatives, or a skilled maid who can make the sandwiches for you in their own kitchen.  This frees you to work on the remaining morning preparations for the party.

“For correct and effective service of a large tea, you need at least one helper who stays in the kitchen, and two friends who will pour tea and coffee at the table at all times during the afternoon.  If it is a very large tea, an experienced maid is needed to help remove used plates and cups.  She should wear a fresh, trim, black uniform with small white apron.

“As for any other party, you should schedule the morning of the party day to include a final light cleaning of the dining room, living room, and the bathroom for guests.  You must clear a clothes closet or provide other space for guests’ wraps.  Caterers also rent suitable racks for this purpose, at little cost.”