By: Lacey Korevec
CRANBURY Tea is what’s brewing at the Cranbury Museum.
Community members who visit the new exhibit, "A Cranbury Tea Party," can drink in the history of tea sets as they’ve changed over time. China, teacups, saucers, creamers, kettles and more from the 18th 19th and 20th centuries will be on display through Aug. 19.
"The decoration on them, the variety of decorations and shapes all make for an interesting exhibit," said Barbara Wahlers, vice president of the Historical and Preservation Society who coordinated the exhibit.
The theme for the display was inspired by the Cranbury Historical and Preservation Society’s annual Marilyn "Lyn" Green Tea party. The event is held in honor of Marilyn Green, a former Cranbury resident and dedicated Historical and Preservation Society member who was involved with the Cranbury Museum. Ms. Green died in 2004. This year’s tea party was held on June 9.
Ms. Wahlers said anyone interested in antiques, home décor or china should stop in this summer to check out the exhibit.
The items used were borrowed from the personal collections of Cranbury residents, including a number of members of the Historical and Preservation Society.
One of the featured items is an old-fashioned 1950s automated tea-maker from England, Ms. Wahlers said.
"From the front it sort of looks like an old-fashioned clock radio, and then in the back there’s one pot that heated the water and another pot that was set on a timer that would tilt forward and pour the tea in the morning," she said. "So when you woke up, your cup of tea was brewed. So that was sort of fun and I had never seen anything like that before."
All of the items are labeled and some are accompanied with tidbits of information explaining their origin, she said.
The exhibit also features a variety of tea caddies, which Ms. Wahlers said are interesting because of the way they’ve changed over the years. In the 20th century, they’re tiny dishes, but in the 18th and 19th centuries, they were originally little lock boxes where wealthy people would store their tea so that it wouldn’t get stolen.
"The name has carried through, but in a way it’s used for a different purpose and it’s simply a little dish today that you can set your used tea bag on," she said.
The Cranbury Museum, located at 4 Park Place East, is open Sundays from 1 to 4 p.m.

