The Fostoria American Tea Sugar can be found as a separate item, or as part of the 3-Piece Tea Cream and Sugar Set. Based on the name and description of this item, its purpose was to be used when serving tea. Some folks refer to this piece as a “Mini Sugar”. The Tea Sugar is about 2½” tall, and it came without a lid. It is the smallest sugar in the American line.
As I have used this beautiful piece over the years, I noticed that its diminutive size does not easily allow a teaspoon to sit in it. A regular spoon looks overbearing, and it tends to slip out of the bowl. When I researched my archives, I noticed that old Fostoria ads would feature it being used with cubes of sugar – not loose sugar. The sugar was then served with sugar tongs; not with a spoon. This application makes perfect sense to me, as trying to get a spoon to stay in the small bowl is a bit difficult and awkward.
There is much etiquette involved when it comes to the subject of tea, and numerous types (or styles) of tea parties are known throughout the world. A Cream Tea, Low Tea, and/or an Afternoon Tea are occasions when having an American Tea Sugar in service would be most proper and fitting. The Tea Creamer is another companion piece that is necessary for tea parties, which makes it quite easy to understand why Fostoria sold them as a set – complete with a Tray.
The Tea Creamer and Sugar pieces did not have as long a production life as their bigger siblings; however, they were still made for an impressive thirty-five years! Their actual production dates were from 1939-1974. If you are interested in purchasing similar Fostoria American items, please click the following sponsored link for available Cream and Sugars on eBay.
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