Origins of tea towels
I am often asked how tea towels originated and in particular the practice of
decorating them. The name Tea Towel originates from early nineteenh century
England. Servants were notoriously careless when carrying expensive china and
the lady of the house took to wrapping their fine china in a linen cloth to
avoid breakages and using these "tea towels" to line tea trays to absorb
spills.

 Linen is soft, lint-free and highly absorbent, making it an ideal fabric for
drying china after washing, without scratching the delicate designs. The plain
linen cloths were then embroidered by Victorian ladies, making them the first
examples of personalised tea towels! 

Today, linen has largely been replaced by cotton due to cost and embroidery
replaced by screen printing. Tea towels today, even taking into account the
popularity of dishwashers, still feature in every kitchen as a functional
product. Many however are bought for their attractive designs and are given as
gifts or used to raise funds for charities and schools. They remain both
functional and attractive, just as the linen cloths that our Victorian ancestors
used all those years ago.

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