In many cultures, certain days have power. They may be auspicious, or indeed inauspicious.
The 29th of May, for example, is a day of power.
“Oh yes”, I can hear you all thinking. “That’s the day in 1912 when fifteen women were dismissed from their jobs at the Curtis Publishing Company in Philadelphia, USA, for dancing the Turkey Trot while on the job.”
But not so fast!
Sure, there’s some dull and uninteresting things that happened on that day, like the first iteration of some dreary car race at Indianapolis in 1911, or even Ronald Reagan’s first visit to The Soviet Union in 1988, which to be fair, would have been fairly interesting politically had not Reagan himself been so mind-numbingly dull.
But much of the time, it has been a day of power; a day empires have been won and lost. Everest was conquered on that day in 1953. The fall of the Byzantine empire in 1473. And in England, the Restoration of the Monarchy in England in 1660.
The last one is particularly significant. Charles the II was a bit of a dud, a first-rate nepotist and a very divisive monarch who ended up getting the chop, but without him, life would be different. The Borough of Queens in New York was named after his Queen, horse racing rose to prominence in his reign, and most importantly, tea took hold in Britain. And he was born on May 29th to boot!
So indeed, it is the most auspicious day of all.
So it is not surprising that on May 29th, of an undisclosed year, an important person was born; indeed, to me, the most important person there is: Lady Devotea.
With the International Day of Lady Devotea about to arrive; there was no other choice but to commence our United Kingdom and United States ventures on that date.
So get your teapots ready from New Orleans to New York, Fresno to Boston, John O’Groats to Land’s End.
May 29th, 2012 – an auspicious day indeed.
The love you feel for Lady Devotea shines through so many of your posts. It’s very nice to read.
Congrats on the impending launch dates! I hope you will have plenty of time though to celebrate the lovely Missus in style.
A Happy Birthday to the Lady. Of course, Congratulations on the official launch. Best of luck! 🙂
What a special day it is then! Delighted that the world is at last getting a chance to sample your excellent blends.
The best of luck in your expanding business endeavours and, most importantly, may I wish The Lady many happy returns and a wonderful day.
Indeed it is a special day and a really good one to launch everything.
Let’s drink several cups of tea to celebrate it.
Beside every great man is a great woman. Your post is a testiment to the fact. We are awaiting the opportunity to be able to enjoy the special blends you have created. May 29th International Lady Devotea Day, Cups Up.
I raise a cup to both you and your Lady love!
This was also the day in 1913 that Igor Stravinsky’s ballet score The Rite of Spring received its premiere performance in Paris, provoking a riot.
Meh, the French and their riots, they’ll riot over anything – tea, coffee, politics and even timeless, magnificent ballets…!
Love useful trivia-bits like this. Thanks for sharing. And many many congratulations to you, Robert and Lady Devotea. It’s truly a privilege to have met you both. Raising a cup of tea as a toast to the launch.
I forgot that @maykingtea and Robert have met. Was it a tea tasting? No, a meeting in a cafe. Was someone running late? I forgot. I think I saw some tweets in passing. Always nice when we meet someone in the other world called real life. Even though this is real life too.
It was a Tweetup, Jackie. I knew I was coming to Adelaide, Robert tweeted whether anyone would like to join us for a lunch and a cup of tea and 7 people turned up! I forgot about the timezone difference though and was nearly a little late but luckily the venue was just a stone’s throw from my hotel so I was lucky on that score. Lady Devotea: a true lady. Robert was absolutely wonderful for arranging the Tweetup.
I love that you are so outspokenly in love with The Lady Devotea. Many happy returns, and you can be sure I’ll be raising my cup to you and the dear Lady on May 29.
I can’t believe no-one has commiserated with the dancing women, a blatant violation on the Innsbruck Convention on Turkey Trotting of 1871.
great stuff
Respect to anyone who speaks the truth.