In the early eighteenth century, tea was sold in coffee houses, and competition was stiff. Proprietors were always looking for new and imaginative ideas to boost trade or attract a particular clientele.
However, these coffee houses combined business with pleasure for men only, and were no place for women who valued their reputations. A woman of substance would have no desire to enter a coffee house, and ladies who wanted to buy tea for consumption at home, had to send a footman inside. Inevitably they began to demand better service.
The ladies' call for change came at the right time. Pioneering coffee house proprietor Thomas Twining converted his coffee house and three neighboring properties into a dry tea and coffee shop, into which ladies of all classes could step with confidence.
History of Tea
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Convention may have prevented these ladies from stepping inside Tom's Coffee House, but it didn't stop them from waiting outside. While they sat in their carriages and sedan chairs, their footmen would buy the coveted tea from Twinings.