Postcard History

Horniman’s Pure Tea company is a historic brand with a significant role in the commercialization of tea. John Horniman boasted in every piece of advertising that his tea was strong and delicious, yet the best and cheapest. For the many who bought Horniman’s Tea, among them commoner and king, every word of this was true.

Horniman’s Pure Tea was founded by John Horniman in England in 1826. At the time, tea was commonly sold loose and was often adulterated with additives like dust and leaves from other plants. Horniman revolutionized the tea industry by introducing pre-sealed packages of tea, ensuring purity, quality, and consistency for his consumers. His method of packaging tea in sealed packets made it easier to store and transport. It also prevented tampering, which at the time was a widespread problem.

Throughout the last half of the nineteenth century, Horniman’s Tea gained popularity across Britain and beyond – especially in Asia and North and South America. The brand became a household name, associated with trust and high-quality tea. Horniman’s was known for its distinctive branding and advertising, often featuring elaborate and artistic designs that resonated with tea drinkers of the era. Credit is often attributed to the advertisers who by 1891 made Horniman’s the largest and most profitable tea trading business in the world.

Horniman never quibbled over the cost of advertising, and it was no secret that every leaf of tea that he packaged was imported for his company from the Ming-Qua Tea Farm in Shanghae, China.

Ming-Qua was widely known for the quality of its tea. They specialized in Ming Qian tea. This variety was usually the first tea harvest of the year; it has a very delicate flavor and is always picked just before the Qing Ming Festival. The Qing Ming is an event usually held in early April, known as the Tomb Sweeping Festival. A spring-cleaning event!

After nearly seven decades of one family’s ownership, in 1893 Horniman Tea was acquired by the famous tea company J. Lyons & Co., which further expanded the brand’s reach and influence. By the twentieth century, the company had merged with other tea businesses, and its influence contributed to the development of modern tea packaging.

As the tea industry evolved, Horniman Tea maintained its reputation for high-quality products. Over time, ownership changed hands, and the brand continued to evolve.

One reason Horniman’s Tea gained its high social standing was the influencers who endorsed the brand. Men like Friedrich Nietzsche once mentioned in a private correspondence that it was his favorite tea.

When the postcard became a prominent medium used to advertise Horniman’s Pure Tea, even King Edward VII got involved. It can only be assumed that proper permissions were granted for the use of his name and image. One reliable source provides history with a detailed account of the events surrounding the coronation of King Edward on Saturday, August 9, 1902. The tea served at most of the royal gatherings and celebratory dinners was Horniman’s.

Horniman had two successful postcard advertising campaigns in the 1910s. The 1904 campaign was a landmark set with overprinted encouragements to “Drink Horniman’s Pure Tea “Always Good Alike.” The set is of average quality, but it features many of England’s and Wales’s most revered sites, including the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, and Lodore Falls in England, and Conwy Castle in Wales.

The second postcard campaign came in 1910 when the “bicycle-date” was in vogue. Regrettably only one card from the set has been found, but it is a terrific card with an image that “points the way” to Horniman’s Tea.

Today, while Horniman’s Tea is less prominent compared to major brands such as Tetley and Twining’s in England and Lipton’s and Bigelow in the USA and Canada, its legacy remains in the industry’s evolution toward standardized, hygienic, and consumer-friendly packaging.

Equally regrettable is the fact that Horniman stopped selling their tea in America in 1993.