Red Rose Tea facts for kids

Red Rose Tea is a well-known tea company that started in Canada. It's famous for its tasty tea and, for many years, for including small collectible toys in its tea boxes!

The company was founded by Theodore Harding Estabrooks in 1890 in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. Theodore first worked with many different types of imports and exports. Soon, he decided to focus only on tea. He noticed that when people bought loose tea leaves, the quality of each cup could be different. To fix this, he started putting his tea leaves into single-serving bags. This made sure that every cup of Red Rose tea tasted great and was consistent.

The Story of Red Rose Tea

Red Rose Tea has a long history, starting in Canada and growing to be known in the United States too.

Early Days and Slogans

When Red Rose Tea first started, some of its advertisements had a fun saying: "Only in Canada, you say? Pity..." This slogan sometimes changed in Canada to, "Only in Canada, eh? Pity..." As the company grew and sold tea in more places, these slogans didn't make as much sense. So, they started using simpler slogans like: "Red Rose Tea is Good Tea" and "A cup'll do you good."

Who Owns Red Rose Tea?

The company has changed hands a few times over the years. Theodore Estabrooks retired in 1932 and sold the company to Brooke, Bond & Company from England. Later, in 1985, Unilever Foods bought the company.

Today, Red Rose Tea is owned by different companies in different countries. In Canada, it's owned by Lipton Teas and Infusions. In the United States, the rights to sell Red Rose tea belong to Redco Foods, which is part of a German company called Teekanne. Since 2018, Harris Tea Company has been making Red Rose tea in the US under a special agreement.

Types of Red Rose Tea

A cup of Red Rose orange pekoe tea

Red Rose tea has been sold in the United States since the 1920s. The "Original Blend" in the US is a mix of different black teas. This is a bit different from the "orange pekoe" tea sold in Canada.

Besides their Original Blend, Red Rose also sells many other flavors. Here are some of them:

Fun Collectibles from Red Rose Tea

From the 1950s to the 1970s, Red Rose Tea packages often came with special gifts inside! These gifts included fortune-telling teacups, collectible tea cards, and small ceramic figures called Wade whimsies.

Fortune-Telling Tea Cups

There were three white teacups with gold designs in the fortune-telling series. They had numbers 1, 2, and 3 on the bottom of each cup and saucer. These cups were made in England from fine bone china. They even came with a small book that explained how to read tea leaves for fun!

Collectible Tea Cards

Red Rose also gave away collectible tea cards. These cards were released in yearly sets of 48 cards each, from 1959 to 1975. Each year had a different theme.

Miniature Figurines (Wade Whimsies)

In 1967, Red Rose Tea started including tiny glazed porcelain figures made by the Wade Pottery company in England. At first, these were only given away in Quebec, Canada, for a short time. But soon, the idea became popular across all of Canada. In the 1970s, the figurines were tested in the United States in places like Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and the Pacific Northwest.

By 1983, the figurines were given away nationwide in the United States. Canada and the US often had different sets of figurines. For example, Canadian tea boxes sometimes had nursery rhyme characters that were never available in the US. This continued until 1985, when the Canadian and US sets became almost the same. According to the company, over 300 million Wade figurines have been given away in tea packages in America!

The Red Rose Tea figurine promotion ended in 2018. While you can still sometimes buy remaining figurines directly from Red Rose Tea online, they are no longer found inside tea boxes in stores. Now, many people look for these fun collectibles in antique shops or online resale markets.

US Wade Figurine Series

Here are some of the different series of Wade figurines that were given away in the United States:

• American Series #1 (1983–1985)

* This series included animals like a Monkey, Lion, Buffalo, Owl, Bear Cub, Rabbit, Squirrel, Bird, Otter, Hippo, Seal, Wild Boar, Turtle, and Elephant.

• American Series #2 (1985–1994)

* This series featured animals such as a Koala, Giraffe, Gorilla, Camel, Kangaroo, Tiger, Zebra, Polar Bear, Orangutan, Raccoon, Rhino, Beaver, Leopard. Later, a Puppy, Kitten, Rabbit, Pony, and Cockatiel were added.

• Circus Series (1994–1999)

* This fun series had circus-themed figures like a Bear, Standing Elephant, Rearing Elephant, Teapot Monkey, Teacup Monkey, Lion, Poodle, Seal, Horse, Tiger. Later, a Ringmaster, Human Cannonball, Strongman, Blue Clown, and Green Clown were added. You could also buy a separate circus ring display.

• North American Endangered Animals Series (1999–2002)

* This series helped teach about animals in danger, including a Sturgeon, Manatee, Timber Wolf, Bald Eagle, Florida Panther, Polar Bear, Peregrine Falcon, Green Sea Turtle, Humpback Whale, and Spotted Owl.

• Noah's Ark Series (2002–2006)

* This series featured figures from the Noah's Ark story: Noah & wife (as one figure), male and female Elephant, male and female Rhino, male and female Zebra, Goose, Gander, Hen, Rooster, Ram, Ewe, Lion, and Lioness. A Noah's Ark display was also available separately.

• Pet Shop Series (2006–2008)

* This series included popular pets: Labrador Retriever, Cat, Tropical Fish, Parrot, Kittens, Puppies, Pony, Rabbit, Turtle, and Duck. A pet shop display was also sold separately.

• Calendar Series (2008–2012)

* This series had a figure for each month of the year: Snowman (January), Cupid (February), Leprechaun (March), Easter Bunny (April), Mother's Day Flowers (May), Graduation Cap & Books (June), Uncle Sam (July), Sandcastle (August), Scarecrow (September), Pumpkin Kitty (October), Turkey (November), and Christmas Tree (December).

• Nautical Wonderland (2012–2015)

* This series was all about the ocean: Compass, Conch Shell, Crab, Diver's Helmet, Lighthouse, Mermaid, Sail Boat, Gull, Seahorse, Ship's Wheel, Starfish, and Treasure Chest.

• American Heritage (2016–2018)

* This series celebrated American history: Arrowhead, Bison, Boston Tea Party Crates, Covered Wagon, Liberty Bell, Space Shuttle, Steam Train, Three Corner Hat, Tractor, and White House.

Red Rose Tea on TV

In 1960, a group of trained chimpanzees called the Marquis Chimps appeared in three TV commercials for Red Rose Tea. In one ad, the apes played golf, and in another, they were cowboys. The most famous ad was called "Rock and Roll Tea Party." In this commercial, the chimps wore plaid suits and played a lively jazz song at a pretend "Savoy Ritz" night club, all while praising Red Rose Tea. Other tea brands, like PG Tips in the UK, also used chimpanzees in their ads for many years.

In 1968, two radio DJs from Pittsburgh, Zeke Jackson and Frank "Crazy D" DiMino, played the "Rock and Roll Dance Party" song from the commercial on their radio shows. People loved it so much that they got permission from Red Rose's parent company to release the song as a record! They made 1000 copies of the song on a small record. The record version played the TV commercial song twice, and both sides of the record were the same.