TeaLadies

The Tea Ladies

When you hear that Nancy Perzo and Karen Patton are known as “The Tea Ladies”, and that they preside over tea events at a lovely historic mansion, it might be easy to assume that they are living a life of ease and indulgence; but you would be sadly mistaken. With all of the varied programs they produce and manage – including traveling to other sites – it is surprising to realize that they aren’t consuming double espressos all day just to keep pace.

The Tea Ladies’ careers started simply enough, with a request from the site manager of the David Davis Mansion in Bloomington Illinois, for a program to be presented at an annual garden event about 19th century tea etiquette. Once they researched and wrote the program – and then presented it – both Nancy and Karen became enchanted with the concept of presenting living history. They obtained a business license in 2003, and used the name the public had already given them; “The Tea Ladies”. Soon they started hosting tea events for the public in the formal parlor of the mansion. Within the first year, they began getting requests from other venues to present their programs, which currently include twenty-three different presentations. Some of the intriguing titles are, “Titanic – Ship of Dreams”, and “All Aboard! Victorian Train Travel in America.” In addition to these lively period presentations, which skip across time from the Civil War to the Titanic Era, these talented ladies also present several style shows, including titles like “Beautiful Hats”, and “Elegance in White” which is about Victorian wedding gowns.