Text by Tom Duenes • Photography Courtesy of Kristin Presler and Mike Kramer
The genesis of an annual tradition
Ten years ago, I asked my lifelong friend of 60-plus years, Mike Kramer, who lives in Fairbanks, Alaska, if he would consider hosting a tea party for his married daughter, Kristin, and her two daughters, Peyton and Mallory, and also including his daughter-in-law, Susie, and her daughter, Kendall.
I told my friend that I would give him the one necessary essential he needed to put on a tea party—a complete old fine bone china English tea set. I also offered to send along a selection of teas, each individually packaged so everyone could choose their own style of tea. All Mike had to do, as I told him, was to make scones, tea sandwiches, and, of course, the dessert. I knew that he liked to cook, so that arrangement would be easy for him to organize.
It didn’t take him even a second to say, “Yes, when can we get started?” We began researching which tea sandwiches would be best, and the party was on. In addition to my ideas, Mike added his own, which included chocolate-covered strawberries, assorted cookies, clotted cream to top the scones, and four different varieties of shaped tea sandwiches—squares, rounds, and triangles—with traditional cucumber tea sandwiches topping the list.
To add to the entertainment, we also decided that a tea party theme would be fun. For this first Alaskan Kramer tea party, we settled on “Dainty English Hats and Dress-Up,” which coincided with Prince William and Catherine’s 2011 London wedding. My wife, Wendy, made the hats, and as the years and the tea parties have continued, she has made all the various themed costumes, too. And to set the tone of this first tea party, I also sent along one more surprise—a handmade 2×2-foot sign that I designed myself emblazoned with the title, “Kramer’s Cottage Tea Room.”
It goes without saying that this first tea party was a huge success and has become a much-anticipated yearly Kramer family event. Mike has often told me that the girls have been ecstatic from year to year waiting to learn when next year’s tea party will take place and what the theme will be.
It’s hard to believe that it’s been 10 years since Mike staged his first tea party. But yes, this year’s tea party will be No. 10, and the theme will be “Broadway Musicals.” Each mom and daughter will have a different dress to match a female character from a Broadway play. Past themes have included the roaring ’20s, carnival, the wild West, hippies, the ’80s, English derby day, Hawaiian, and Steampunk (Victorian)—all very different from each other.
Now that all three of Mike’s granddaughters are in college (Kendall and Mallory at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and Peyton in graduate school at Oregon State University), Mike told me recently that it’s becoming a little more challenging organizing these annual tea parties to work around their schedules and activities. He has, however, proposed three date options for this year—the final date yet to be selected—and everyone is excited as ever to get together for another annual Kramer family tea party.
The idea of suggesting having tea parties to Mike came quite naturally to me, having grown up in a family that used fine chinaware on special occasions and having a European mother. Because of that upbringing, I was somewhat familiar with the pieces that would be needed to put on a tea party. In my forties, I inherited a 12-piece fine china dinnerware set, including a complete tea set, consisting of a teapot, eight cups and saucers, a cream pitcher along with a sugar bowl, and sugar tongs to boot. The delightfully colorful and interesting tea set comprised various old English manufacturers of fine china. I was so fascinated with that tea set that I started collecting similar cups and saucers at antiques shows and later online. My collection grew and grew and grew! I discovered that there were far more china manufacturers in England than anyone could possibly count and that, for the most part, all of them made a wide array of distinctive and unique teacups and saucers, including an extensive assortment of tableware, all extremely beautiful. Unfortunately, only a few of those potteries have remained in business.
Many years after Grampa Mike’s first tea party, I invited him here to Oregon, and I suggested that he look over my collection and select a mixed tea set to give to the moms and their daughters. He surprised his daughter and daughter-in-law at Christmastime with those tea sets, and each of his three granddaughters received hers when she turned 16. I was sure to include in each set a cup and saucer made by Shelley Potteries, one of the most renowned of all English fine china manufacturers, and a chintz-patterned cup and saucer (each piece totally covered with an overall floral design). Mike and I discussed the likelihood of his granddaughters’ and their moms’ trading pieces between themselves, and we both thought that was a fine idea. It is my fervent wish and sincere hope that those sets get good use, that Mike’s family take time often to enjoy a relaxing cup of tea, and that Kramer family tea parties continue for as long as the midnight sun shines in Alaska. Tea parties in Alaska—how about that!
Tom Duenes lives in Lake Oswego, Oregon, with his wife, Wendy, and their cockapoo, Winston. A retired builder, he enjoys woodworking, gardening, collecting Royal Doulton character jugs and old English fine bone china, and keeping in touch daily with family and longtime friends, such as Mike Kramer. Tom and Mike are grateful to TeaTime for sharing great ideas and delicious recipes for tea parties.
Just last night I read Tom’s article “Owning Your Own Tea Set”in Tea Time magazine. I completely agree with him and share his interest in tea sets. It was so much fun to read his thoughts.
Thank you.
Maggie Gilmore