A tea lady is a woman in an office or working environment, whose sole job is to provide beverages (chiefly tea) and light snacks during the allocated tea break. Tea ladies are a mainly British custom. They entered the mainstream in the UK during the Second World War, when tea ladies were used in an experiment to boost efficiency in workplaces for the war effort. They had such a hugely positive effect on morale they became commonplace in all areas of work, mobile canteens even serving military units on exercises. They were present in a works canteen or perhaps came round with a trolley, on which was usually a tea urn full of either hot tea or hot water, and perhaps a selection of cakes and buns.
Famous quotes containing the words tea and/or lady:
“Id take the bus downtown with my mother, and the big thing was to sit at the counter and get an orange drink and a tuna sandwich on toast. I thought I was living large!... When I was at the Ritz with the publisher a few months ago, I did think, Oh my God, Im in the Ritz tearoom. ... The person who was so happy to sit at the Woolworths counter is now sitting at the Ritz, listening to the harp, and wondering what tea to order.... [ellipsis in source] Am I awake?”
—Connie Porter (b. 1959)
“... to work, to work hard, to see work steadily, and see it whole, was the way to be reputable. I think I always respected a good blacksmith more than a lady of leisure.”
—Elizabeth Stuart Phelps (18441911)