Tea with Shakespeare
By Janis Turk
Reprinted with Permission Country Lifestyles Magazine November/December 2003 issue

On the birth of trembling winter, as Shakespeare called it, nothing is nicer than the taking of the toast and tea. In fact, in The Winter’s Tale, long before the Victorian era practice of enjoying afternoon tea each day, Shakespeare shared a secret for a special blend made from the flowers of the fields:

“Here’s flowers for you:
Hot lavender, mints, savory, marjoram.
The marigold, that goes to bed wi’ the sun…”
-Act IV, Scene IV

Surely the Bard knew the pleasure of warm tea and good company on cold winter days when, as he writes, “The icicles hang by the wall.”

If Shakespeare were alive today, he would very likely feel at home around tea time during this holiday season in Seguin. He’d also find good company, for there a group of ladies have been gathering in his honor, twice a month for more than a century. Since 1900, the Seguin Shakespeare Club has met to enrich on another’s minds and spirits and to discuss works of fine literature and great writers. Some of the ladies have been members for over fifty years, and the affection they have for books, music, and one another is infectious.

Beginning with a charter of sixteen of the most prominent women in Seguin, today there are more than forty members in the Seguin Shakespeare Club.

The club, founded by Mrs. Joseph B. Dibrell, has met in the same locarion- the Women’s Federated Club House- since its inception. This building, having been moved several times over the years, is currently undergoing restoration.

At each meeting, the Seguin Shakespeare Club enjoys a program presented by one of the members or a guest. According to member Sudy Bruns, “Originally, all the club’s programs were on Shakespeare; however, later, the programs branched out into other subjects.”

A favorite subject with many of the ladies is entertaining, and so every winter just before Christmas, members like to celebrate the season with a small party or a festive, holiday tea. Serving sparkling punch, hot coffee, finger sandwiches, and dainty sweets, the ladies enjoy their time together.

The tradition of afternoon tea dates back to the late 1700’s in England. Dinner was served late in the evening, and Anna, the Duchess of Bedford (1788-1861), complained about a “sinking feeling” in the late afternoon. Afternoon tea with biscuits and little cakes offered a perfect remedy and warmed the winter. But then Shakespeare already knew that long before the Duchess did:

“For you there’s rosemary and rue; these keep
Seeming and savour all the winter long:
Grace and remembrance to you…”
- Hamlet, Act IV, Scene V

This year the Seguin Shakespeare Club hosted their annual tea in a Queen Anne-styled house, the
	LiveOak Estate, an historic home decorated in bold, theatrical colors and full of beautiful European treasures. The 108-year-old home is a three-story, 20-room residence just off the city’s main square and is owned by the family of H. A. Daniels, II, and Gigi Daniels Benson. Movie theatre owners and exhibitors since the days of silent pictures, the Daniels family has hosted famous guests such as John Wayne, Gene Autry, Chill Wills, and other celebrities over the years. Lovely and inviting, this house sets the perfect stage for entertaining treasured friends. Jeffrey Koehler of Design Associates and Karen Anderson put the finishing touches on the holiday decorations for the Shakespeare Club tea, integrating
natural items such as magnolia branches, pineapples, grapes, and pomegranates into the centerpiece and the dressing of the mantles. Soon the house becomes aglow with warmth and excitement of the season.

In the dining room with a fire warming guests on this mid-winter day, the Seguin Shakespeare Club celebrates the holidays with a traditional English afternoon tea which our readers can recreate for company of their own, for as Shakespeare writes,

“Some say that ever ‘gainst that season comes
Wherein our Savior’s birth is celebrated,
The bird pf dawning singeth all night long:
…So hallowed and so gracious is the time.”
- Hamlet, Act I, Scene I