The New Canaan Historical Society on Saturday will welcome visitors of all ages for the nonprofit organization’s annual Victorian Tea, part of a day-long Open House and a local tradition for many families and individuals.
A recent Victorian Tea in the parlor at the Town House, part of the New Canaan Historical Society. Contributed
Held in the 1825-built Town House at the top of God’s Acre, the most regularly used structure on the Historical Society’s campus, the event sees the parlor room transformed into a bustling, festive hub cakes, sandwiches and, of course, tea from 12 to 3:30 p.m.
Generations of New Canaanites have become regular attendees, according to Janet Lindstrom, executive director of the Historical Society.
Janet Lindstrom, executive director of the New Canaan Historical Society, in the parlor of the Town House. Credit: Michael Dinan
“One thing that I’ve noticed is that oftentimes grandparents will bring their grandchildren in because they almost always have an activity going on like a puppet show, so they will come and have tea and then go to a puppet show or make a gingerbread house and then have tea,” Lindstrom said from the parlor on a recent afternoon, standing beside a case that features Shirley Temple, Colonial-era “wishbone” and other antique dolls.
“There are some people that have been coming with their own child for years and years since they were about five, and now they’re in junior high school and they’re still coming,” Lindstrom said.
New Canaan resident Jennifer Ruth called the tea “a hidden gem in New Canaan.”
A British Guiana native who grew up enjoying a cup of tea with her own mother, Ruth has been going to the Historical Society’s Victorian Tea for 10 years with her own daughter, now 13.
It “brings you back to an era, time and pace of life that do not exist anymore,” Ruth said.
“The tea always makes us feel that we can stop and enjoy the holidays in a more calm and genteel manner. Just that ‘tea time’ brings back memories for me, and my daughter and I enjoy a cup of tea together at home or wherever. So I love going to the Historical Society, my daughter and I love going. The people are wonderful, the volunteers who work so hard to put it together.”
The Victorian Tea marks yet another use for the well-preserved Town House structure which sits prominently at the top of God’s Acre.
For its first four decades, the Town House served as New Canaan’s Town Hall, the seat of municipal government. It would change hands many times starting in 1864, just before the close of the American Civil War, and through the next 100 years, serving as a place of worship for Methodists and Baptists, a Masonic Lodge, parsonage for the nearby Congregational Church minister and St. Mark’s Sunday School space.
In 1963, the Historical Society acquired the Town House from St. Michael’s Lutheran Church next door—an exchange deal with the church, which needed parking space.
“There’s a lot of history,” Lindstrom said of the Town House.
And a sense of New Canaan’s cultural heritage imbues the Victorian Tea with a sense of something very special, she said.
“I think that when you come in here it’s not like going to tea in a big, open room,” Lindstrom said. “It’s an ambience that is here and you feel that you are going into a special place with the silver and it’s made as an old-fashioned tea.”
Asked whether there’s an official dress code for the Victorian Tea, Lindstrom said: “I’ve never seen somebody who wasn’t dressed up. If they’re coming to tea, they usually do dress.”
Those interested in participating in the Tea (it’s $12 for adults, $6 for kids under 12 and features traditional cakes and sandwiches—ham, cucumber, chicken salad, salmon) should phone the Historical Society at 203-966-1776.