Families and Companies Created around Grandma’s Table!
The Chief Blonde (middle..beige overalls) with her cousins and Grandma
When I was little, my family and I went to visit my grandma and grandpa at least once a week. When we weren’t outside helping Grandma with her flowers…
or playing in Grandpa’s apple orchard…
we were in the house..almost always sitting around Grandma’s table.
Grandma’s table was a light blonde faux wood formica number, edged in chrome, from the late ’40s/early ’50s. It was truly resilient and lasted her until the day she died at 86. A lot happened around that table. Grandpa cut all his grandsons’ hair at the table…
The Chief Blonde’s brother loving his buzz cut from Grandpa
We played games, especially with the Carrom board around Grandma’s table…
The Chief Blonde in a lovely purple dress with her brother…can’t imagine why I was making that face?
We grandchildren ate a lot of foods around Grandma’s table, not just meals, but tons of yummy snacks.
Grandma would toast the large four square saltine crackers (why don’t they make these big saltines anymore???) and then butter them, topping off the whole concoction with her homemade strawberry freezer jam. The salty and the sweet combo of this snack was divine!
Of course, the adults enjoyed Grandma’s table too. Loud card games (with tons of swearing and insults) went on deep into the night as the grandchildren attempted to sleep in various bedrooms.
Look at the men smoking right in the house! Smoking cigars no less, right at Grandma’s table! You could have cut through the smoke with a knife, it was so thick. These were different times indeed!
Almost every birthday was celebrated at Grandma and Grandpa’s house.
And every holiday, for years, we wore our Sunday best, ate special family dishes, and drank tea around Grandma’s table.
The Chief Blonde’s grandmother (in gray) and her brother enjoy tea and cake
My grandparents worked hard to create wonderful family memories for us. They shared their hopes and dreams and memories as we gathered around Grandma’s table, and as a result, they created a wonderful close loving family that blooms to this day.
Around Grandma’s Table with Bigelow Tea
This is why Bigelow Tea and its history means so much to me. Cindi Bigelow, third-generation owner and company president, tells the story of how Bigelow tea was created around her Grandma’s table.
The company was started by my grandmother back in 1945 in her kitchen..(by) Ruth Campbell Bigelow and her husband David. They worked together. Really, what happened is..she was an interior designer, she lost everything during the depression. She wanted to get into business for the family, didn’t think we had a good tea, and created this wonderful product from an old colonial recipe and named it Constant Comment. That’s really what started us… I always like people (customers, employees) to remember our company roots, our history, it is that what makes this company so special. We are the number one specialty tea company in the country and I am convinced it’s because of the family aspect!
Bigelow’s Constant Comment Tea, a beautiful black tea with orange rind and black spice, is America’s favorite specialty tea to this day! Ruth Campbell Bigelow couldn’t have realized the impact that she would make on generations of her family or America as she toiled in her kitchen and around her table to develop and create one of this country’s most iconic products. I know my family has always enjoyed Bigelow products. My husband, Walt, is currently hooked on Bigelow’s green tea blends while I love Orange & Spice Herb Tea.
Bigelow Tea’s Founders Ruth and David Bigelow serving tea around their table
I admire Ruth, the company’s founder, and current president, Cindi Bigelow, for keeping this personal family element of pride in their product lines. Did you know that family members are involved in the creation, development and tasting of every new product to this day? While both my grandmother and Cindi Bigelow’s grandmother have now passed from this earth, I can almost see Ruth Campbell Bigelow smiling as she watches over her family with pride, just as surely as my grandmother must be!
Blog Note: The Chief Blonde was not compensated in any manner for this post. I wrote this as an entry in a contest for a trip to Bigelow Tea’s Plantation in Charleston, NC. Should I win, my date will be my loving husband Walt but I’ll bring a picture of Grandma, because she would have loved to sit around Cindy Bigelow’s table as well!
UPDATE: The Chief Blonde was chosen to attend a special event in Charleston based on this post. She is extremely grateful to Collective Bias, Bigelow tea and everyone who supported her in this post!
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Oh my goodness I remember the Carrom Board. Just seeing that bring back a lot of fun memories. Love Bigelow teas too!
That is a beautiful entry and hope you win! Isn’t it something how so many memories are carved around the kitchen table. I’d forgotten so many until I saw your pictures. My parents had a grey marbled table with chrome trim. We did not drink tea but it has become some thing I love and my daughters now share in that love!
I love all these photos! It’s funny, too, how many people have precious memories associated with tea. Not many, if any, other beverages have that sort of emotional appeal. That makes tea an even sweeter drink, if you ask me!
awh, it’s nice to see these pictures. thank you for sharing all of these memories with us. 😀
🙂
Carrie
/readmylifeascarrie.blogspot.com/
I was not a Bigelow (or any kind) tea drinker because I was an adult before I would even drink tea. However, once I learned to like tea, Bigelow always meant quality tea to me!
Thanks for sharing your wonderful memories… isn’t it nice to revisit all those wonderful times? It is even more amazing how certain tastes (such as the tea), smells, sounds, songs, etc instantly transport us back to that time? 🙂
What precious memories and how awesome is it that Bigelow has been such a huge part of it!
Seeing these pictures reminds me so much of growing up in my family: The men around the table playing cards with their stinky cigars, baking with my Grandma. You’re so lucky to have the pictures to remember all of these moments! Good luck to you!
Great post about family memories and your photos are wonderful, I have a photo of myself with my cousins when I was about that age!
Loved this post! Great seeing all the old photos.
I’ve loved Constant Comment for years! I never knew the full story of Bigelow. Thanks for sharing! I hope you get to go to Charleston!! Fingers crossed for you!
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I never knew my grandparents since they died before I was born or shortly after. We had great times at my Aunt & Uncle’s house with my cousins. I like Constant Comment tea.
What a fabulous stroll down a wonderful memory lane! Such warmth and true family solidarity . . . which is missing from many of the families of today!
You have some lovely memories. And some really nice pictures too! That reminded me of my grandmas table…a whole lot went on around that table.
I wonder if that is true for most folks?
What wonderful pictures. I love Bigelow teas.
Brings back memories of my own grandparents’ house, thanks for sharing!
It is great that you have all these wonderful photos of your family and grandma. They help keep all the memories more alive.
I loved looking at the pictures. We had the exact same cupboards when I was growing up.
You have such wonderful memories and pictures around your grandma’s table! I love all those old photo’s. I really like the one of all the adults sitting around playing cards…such fun times. I really enjoyed your post and like that your family gatherings center around Bigelow Tea.