Monday, January 24, 2011

Oh, lovely Tea Time Magazine

TTcoverja08 I recently came across an old issue of Tea Time magazine.  It's published by the same people who revived Victoria Magazine (for Tea Time is also published by Hoffman Media, based in Birmingham, Alabama).

The first thing I noticed was that the editorial content outweighed the ads.  It was wonderful that each story led to another without a lot of advertising.  That's a huge plus in my book.

The cover was lovely.  How can you go wrong with a delightful dessert sitting on the saucer of delicate bone china—with the cup acting as a beautiful pedestal?  The inside cover had me fooled for a moment—the Make Mine Pink ad is heavily featured in Romantic Homes Magazine, but no, Tea Time is from the same publisher as Victoria Magazine.

BannerMarApr “The Art of Tea” article was a delight.  I don’t have children of my own, but I do hope that mothers (and more likely grandmothers) will do as the article suggests and introduce new generations to the joys of having tea.  “A Fine Legacy” article, featuring teacups, was a photographic joy to behold.  I have an extensive teacup collection, but this generational retrospective had my tongue hanging out.  I’m a sucker for poppies, so the 1970s Poppy cup and saucer left me longing to add this specimen to my collection.
As with Victoria Magazine, the pictures featured throughout are a pure delight.  And I can’t wait to try out the recipe for the savory walnut biscuits or the raspberry chocolate turnovers.   You can’t expect diet foods in a magazine called Tea Time.

I suppose my only real criticism would be that the magazine—originating in Alabama—has far too much emphasis on a southern U.S. interpretation of taking tea.  Hey, I’m a first generation American of English extraction.  Tea Time did not originate in the southern United States.  It would behoove the editors to remember that tea originated in England.  I hope that in future issues they’ll give greater play to the true home of tea and crumpets and feature taking tea in other parts of the U.S., Canada, and Australia.

Thanks to a Google search, I found the magazine is still going strong. Therefore, I’m going to treat myself to a subscription of Tea Time.  I’m already looking forward to my first issue.

How about you?  What magazines do you subscribe to?

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