A Gilded great time: Barb's Tea Service presents a Gilded Age Tea at the Port Huron Museum

Kayla Flanagan, who we met a few year's back at another historic venue, with Barb G. of BTS

Last week, BTS had the great pleasure of serving up a Gilded Age tea time at the Port Huron Museum. Along with tasty treats provided by the Museum, BTS served up hot tea and gilded gift bags to a roomful of delightful guests - many of whom brought their own teacup with special stories to share.

BTS Team:  Rob G., Barb G. and Pam B. at Port Huron Museum

This event was made possible by Kayla Flanagan, Curator of Programs and Education of the Port Huron Museums. We first met Kayla several years ago during her tenure at Meadow Brook Hall, where she coordinated a series of Downton Abbey tea talks featuring BTS.  Thanks to her invitation, we were thrilled to be one of the very first tea programs at the Port Huron Museum.

Serving tea and selecting tea treats before Gilded Age program begins.

While I shared Gilded Age facts and fortunes, BTS team members, Pam B. and Rob G., served attendees, many dressed in afternoon tea/vintage finery. Two best friends, in beautiful retro-fashion dresses and hats, scored gold for the Gilded Age.

Friends who dressed in vintage attire won gold at The Gilded Age tea.

One guest immediately recognized our Biltmore sugar bowls and creamers. (We own two sets—thanks to a few too many enthusiastic visits to the Biltmore gift shop, we lost track of our reproduction china inventory. But in the spirit of the Gilded Age, a little excess feels perfectly appropriate.) She was well-acquainted with the Vanderbilt china pattern, having Biltmore teacups of her own.

Guest with her own Biltmore teacup.

Friends attending Gilded Age tea.

The Port Huron Museum itself is steeped in Gilded Age history. Originally the Port Huron Library, it was built with funds from Gilded Age industrialist and philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie. Today, it houses a rich museum collection, including The Carnegie.

More tea serving!

Sisters who shared their teacup stories. 

Port Huron also shares a connection with Thomas Edison, who moved to the city in 1854 at the age of seven. Though his memories of Port Huron may have been mixed, the city played a formative role in his early life. He benefited from the large library he patronized often and a newly built railroad line, stretching from Detroit to Fort Gratiot, that provided him his first job. 

Rob prepping tea.

Tea and gilded age goodie bags.

 

Edison’s legacy even makes a cameo in HBO/Max’s The Gilded Age (Season 1, Episode 7), in a dramatized yet largely accurate depiction of his illuminating Manhattan in September 1882. (And yes, Port Huron proudly hosts the Thomas Edison Depot Museum.)

BTS was delighted to be part of this wonderful museum event with equally wonderful guests. Gilded Age fortunes - outrageous, Gilded Age tea time in Port Huron - priceless!

National Thrift Day: Barb's Tea Service celebrates with Thrifters Extraordinaire!

BTS' Thrifter Dream Team:  Boxes and bags filled with uncovered gems.

Today marks National Thrift Day, though at Barb’s Tea Service, we’ve been reveling in the spirit of secondhand treasures all week long. With our team of seasoned thrifters, we scoured specialty shops from the Detroit suburbs to northern Michigan, returning with a trove of incredible finds—including a long-coveted Collingwood English bone china teacup for the price of an Egg McMuffin.

Collingworth English bone china teacup for the cost of an Egg McMuffin.

Back in May, I shared my initiation into the art of value shopping, under the guidance of Megan, girlfriend of our eldest son, Rob, on my Substack page  (see: A Shift to the Thrift). Megan enlightened me on the wild world of thrift store pricing—where what’s acceptable in an antique shop might be laughably overpriced at a bargain reseller. For instance, a fine porcelain teacup might fetch $15–$25 on eBay or in upscale vintage boutiques, but true thrift pricing should be at least half that, dropping further the longer its "shelf life" extends.

First stop earlier in the week in Madison Heights. 

Repast required after so much thrifting.

As the stars of our thrifting week aligned, our daughter-in-law Jenna—visiting from NYC, along with son, Matt, and a savvy bargain hunter herself—joined us. Together with Megan and, daughter  Rachel, we set off for discount destinations.

Sifting the mix of dolls. . . 

beanie babies. . .

  

. . . and office (ugh!) mugs.

      

  

Our first stop: Megan’s favorite, St. Vincent de Paul in Oakland County. After two hours of what I now call “the sift of the thrift”—a deep dive through an overwhelming mix of oddities and overlooked gems—our quartet emerged victorious. We scored vintage tableware for an upcoming reception, a designer-label cocktail dress, assorted summer tops and shorts, and a like-new fuchsia sweater with beaded embellishments. The latter, already a deal at $3.50, was on sale for half off - that's less than the cost of a fast-food breakfast sandwich.

Recent check on ebay for my "new" teacup: $17.00 plus $7.00 shipping. That's a lot of McMuffins!

On National Thrift Day Eve, we took a break from cabin life in northern Michigan to explore our small-town thrift store. Another two hours of sifting yielded gold: mid-century Russell Wright serving dishes, modeled after the original casual dinnerware from the 1940s (now on display at the Manhattan Museum of Modern Art).

Other finds from our Eve excursion included a never-opened chocolate bomb-making kit, a glamorous summer jumpsuit, and yes—the teacup I’ve been dreaming about since May. Patience paid off: the original $14.99 pink sticker had been replaced with a blue one marked $4.99. And on this special day, blue-sticker items were 25% off.

Wearing my new $1.50 sweater on podcast, where we also talked "thrifting".

Thrifting isn’t just shopping—it’s a mysterious scavenger hunt without a map. It demands perseverance, endurance, and a keen eye to spot treasures hidden among the clutter. So here’s to our thrifter sifters—vintage hats off to you!

And how am I celebrating National Thrift Day? No surprise—by sipping tea with my blue-sticker bargain bounty:

• Pink beaded sweater: $1.50

• English bone china teacup: $3.75

• Thrifting with my sifters: Priceless  💚

Bonus epilogue:  What better way to celebrate National Thrift Day than with a new thrift?! Matt and Jenna hit a few more thrift shops on their way back home. They picked up this beauty for a certain Wedgwood collector. To paraphrase our blog's concluding remarks, Prince Charles and Princess Diana commemorative jasperware dish, $8.00. to receive a bargain from an expert thrifter, priceless! 

Married by Mayonnaise? We propose vow renewals by tea!

 

Forty-second wedding anniversary: tractor. Could teapot officiated vow renewal be far behind?

A recent Wall Street Journal article detailing a wedding officiated by Manny Mayo—the Hellmann’s mayonnaise mascot—in an outlandish ceremony promoting the Unilever condiment, not only failed to offend us, but actually inspired ideas for our own future vow renewal.

As reported in this month’s WSJ piece, “A Giant Tub of Mayonnaise Married My Friends,” Unilever launched a contest inviting “chicken tender-loving couples” to get married in a dipping sauce commercial.

The winning couple would receive a stipend, a Las Vegas wedding, and a “lifetime of tender-loving happiness.”

Thirty-seven couples applied. The winners, Heather Schroering and Nick Phillips—Brooklyn residents originally from Kentucky (home of KFC)—explained that “chicken might as well be in the state’s constitution.”

Manny officiated the wedding ceremony of two brought together by their disdain of dry sandwiches. 

©Hellmans

Their application video highlighted their shared disdain for dry sandwiches and featured an onion ring being slipped onto a chicken finger, showcasing their mutual love of the absurd—and each other.

Guests were given just two weeks’ notice, yet Heather and Nick quickly gathered 60 RSVPs. The sponsor’s guidelines called for a 30-minute ceremony followed by a “dry” reception (presumably referring to alcohol, not sandwiches). The dress code discouraged wild hues, instead favoring the Hellmann’s color palette. For clarity, Unilever’s reference guide suggested “Kate Middleton on vacation.”

Helpful, indeed. How else would one know how to dress for a wedding officiated by a giant bottle of mayonnaise?

It wasn't all about looks, though, there's a lot of sentiment, too. Manny Mayo offered these profound words: “Like chicken tender dip and chicken tenders, marriage is a beautiful union of two special flavors that just work together.”

It brought tears to many—though whether from laughter or emotion was hard to tell.

As wild as the event was, it was a "blue light special" compared to the average wedding cost. In 2025, estimates hover around $36,000, with nearly 30% of couples footing the entire bill.

Heather and Nick celebrated not only their union, but their financial savvy.

Of course, this isn’t to everyone’s “taste”—literally or figuratively. Some may not wish to immortalize their big day with a condiment mascot in every photo or a menu dominated by tiered trays of chicken tenders.

But we’re not entirely turned off by the idea. In fact, it got us (read, me) thinking about how to renew our vows next year. My husband Chris and I have themed our last three anniversaries: 40th (ruby), 41st (podcast), 42nd (tractor). Could the 43rd be overseen by a giant teapot declaring, “Marriage is like a cup of Earl Grey, a perfect blend of tea with a hint of citrusy bergamot."

We’ll need to workshop that.

Still, if any tea brands are looking for a couple to star in a vow renewal-slash-commercial, we’re available.

Dress code: Kate Middleton in shock.

Root beer has its roots in tea! We found both at the Lewiston Farmer's Market

Nothing beats a refreshing root beer and tea on a summer day in northern Michigan.

One of my favorite summertime drinks, root beer, offers more than just a refreshing, earthy sweetness on a hot August day—it also stirs cherished memories of family trips to an up-north drive-in diner. I can still picture the metal tray clipped to the driver’s window, loaded with fries, burgers, and ice cream floats. For a pre-adolescent diner experience, it felt like a three-star Michelin meal.

Last year, thanks to The History Channel’s “Food That Built America” (Season 5, Episode 3), we learned that root beer actually began as “root tea.” This weekend, we had the pleasure of reconnecting with both the pop and the tea through two engaging vendors at the Lewiston Farmer’s Market.

First, a little on the origins of root beer. 

In 1875, while honeymooning in rural New Jersey, Philadelphia pharmacist Charles Hires and his wife were served “root tea”—an effervescent herbal drink popular in the countryside but virtually unknown in cities. Intrigued, Hires asked the innkeeper for the recipe and, upon returning home, created his own version in a powdered mix of sixteen herbs, berries, and roots—including vanilla and sassafras. When combined with yeast, sugar, and water, it produced a bubbly, refreshing beverage.

As a supporter of the Temperance movement, Hires ensured the fermentation process was halted before alcohol formed. He believed his root tea could serve as a wholesome alternative to the heavily consumed alcoholic drinks of the day.

When it came time to market his creation, Hires consulted his friend Reverend Russell Cowell, who knew Philadelphia very well. Hires initially planned to call the drink “root tea,” but Cowell, surprisingly, advised against it, noting that “men around here don’t drink tea.” Observing its appearance, Cowell suggested a more fitting name: “root beer.”

The rest, as they say, is root beer history. . . 

Back to its roots in tea and root beer at the Lewiston Farmer's Market:

This weekend, on a warm Saturday afternoon, I met up with up old and new friends, and returned with a bag full of treasures, including root beer tea and a few bottles of Sarsaparilla. 

(And for those of you unfamiliar with the location, Lewiston is a small town in northeast Michigan, between Gaylord and Mio and stone's throw from Garland Resort.)

Ryan Cottrell of Sweet Cooper Farm, literally and figuratively, stands behind his real good Sarsaparilla.

Real good root beer from Sweet Copper Farm

In a hard-to-miss booth that occupies a large corner space in the Lewiston Market, Ryan Cottrell, of Sweet Copper Farm, literally and figuratively, stands behind the claims of his Sarsaparilla being the "best root beer in the world". 

Behind a table filled with Sweet Copper Sarsaparilla and a tray of free samples, a sign that rivals expressway-sized billboards, proclaims: “Real spices. Real sugar. Real good!”

And, it really is really good!

Sweet Cooper Sarsaparilla with real sugar and real spices.

Although, root beer is not Sweet Copper Farm's only product for sale at the market, it’s a crowd favorite on a hot northern Michigan day.   We came, we sampled, we loved, and yes, we bought. (And we’ll be back for more!)

Tricia Adamen of Tee Lake Treats and Tea, offers a variety of unique tea blends and scrumptious treats.

Tee Lake's Rooibos Rootbeer Tea

Nearly a year after our first introduction, we were thrilled to reconnect in person with Tricia Adamen of Tee Lake Treats and Tea. Though her scrumptious baked goods were nearly sold out when we arrived, we got the scoop on her latest tea creations—including tea bath salts, which we picked up for our guests at Pemberly Pines.

Package of Tea Lake Treats and Tea Rootbeer Rooibos.

One edible tea mix that immediately caught our eye—especially after our Sweet Copper Farm stop—was Tee Lake’s root beer tea. Tricia combines sarsaparilla root and root beer flavor with rooibos tea for a unique loose-leaf blend. Just opening the pack and inhaling its aroma gives a delightful preview of what’s to come.

Like its cold counterpart, the Rooibos Root Beer Tea is hearty, full-bodied, and refreshing. Steeped hot for the recommended five minutes, it delivers rich sarsaparilla goodness in every sip.

We're looking forward to our next visit to the Lewiston Farmer's Market. In the meantime, we've got root beer, both hot and cold, to enjoy. 

A timely reminder, August 6 is National Root Beer Float Day. 

A tea cup and frosty mug toast to you!  

For more information on both vendors featured on today's blog, visit them at:

Sweet Copper Farm's  Facebook page.

Tea Lake Treats and Tea website.