I am too young to have ever seen the Jewel Tea Man coming up the road, but I’ve heard stories about him all of my life. He was a “peddler man” as my great grandmother would say and he stopped by houses to sell his wares at regular interval
s. Lela used to love to buy tea and a few pantry staples from him whenever the budget allowed. Another exciting purchase was always the Autumn Leaf dishes that he would sell and sometimes offer are premiums to loyal customers. The tea pitcher above actually belonged to my great grandmother and is the tea pitcher she served her tea out of for decades.
Today, I’m sharing an old recipe direct from the 1929 Jewel Tea Cookbook, Mary Dunbar’s Favorite Recipes (Mary Dunbar was the chief home economist for the Jewel Tea Company).
I had to change the name of this punch, though, because in the cookbook this is referred to as Hawaiian Punch. Now, at that time there was no hyper-red punch sold on the juice aisle so this name bespoke of a delicious iced tea punch with wonderful fruit flavors mixed in. The internet would be mighty confused if I used that name today!
The printable recipe for this punch is below but I wanted to show you the original because I always enjoy seeing vintage cookbooks. It’s like stepping back in time.
Now I’m modernizing this just a wee bit. First of all, Jewel tea doesn’t exist anymore but Orange Pekoe Tea does – it’s pretty much what is in any Southern tea bag. You can choose your favorite orange pekoe tea and follow the directions exactly as they are in the recipe if you like. I’m making it a bit easier by using Southern Breeze sweet tea and leaving out the sugar since the tea is already sweetened in the bag with a zero calorie sweetener so it cuts down on the sugar a bit.
What does it taste like? My first sip of this was very familiar. I knew I had never had it before, though, and couldn’t quite place the flavor – but then it hit me. This tastes like that pale yellow/white lifesaver. It has a decided tropical bend to it with just a hint of tea on the side and mild sweetness. My entire family loved it and I’ll just bet there are going to be an awful lot of fans for this old fashioned recipe once you try it. A perfect special drink for the upcoming summer!
- 4 cups strong orange pekoe tea*
- 1 cup pineapple juice
- 16 ounces ginger ale (can use diet sprite or sprite instead)
- juice of 2 lemons
- juice of 2 oranges
- ½ cup sugar*
- Combine all ingredients. Serve over crushed ice.
Yum 
This sounds refreshing, will have to try soon.
I have those glasses!
Those originally came with Big Top Peanut Butter in them. Can you imagine seeing such beautiful things in our grocery store with peanut butter in it today? My friend, Jyl, and I often talk about how we’d love to go back in time and just shop for things like this in the grocery stores!
I have the goblets like these and the dessert dishes that match them. What’s more I remember buying them filled with peanut butter at the grocery store. Memories are awesome.
Memories are awesome Diane and you are correct, these glasses did come filled with peanut butter!!
How many tea bags do u use for this punch?
Me, too!
I have that teapot, and one glass like this.
I hope you get the chance to try it soon!!
I think I have some of those dishes. This tea is wonderful and I agree t tastes like the tropical lifesaver (haven’t thought of those in yrs.)
I haven’t had one in ages myself. I took one sip and thought “Hmm, I know this flavor!” lol
To me, that lifesaver was pineapple. It was my favorite one. I had wished they would make the pineapple flavor in a pkg. of its own, like cherry and butter rum. I did like those flavors also.
🙂 Maybe one day they will!!
We had one of those same pitchers growing up! I’ve never been a tea drinker, but my older sisters all swear that tea out of that pitcher was THE BEST tea ever. I guess after 30 or 40 years of use it had probably absorbed some flavors and was nicely “seasoned.”
I think you’re right, it’s seasoned with memories and that would definitely make the best tea 🙂
Oh Christy! The Jewel Tea man! I am old enough to remember him but my Mama didn’t purchase from him-my Aunt did and had a complete set of those dishes! I have the same pitcher you do that I purchased for 5.00 at an estate sale a couple of years ago. The pattern reminded me of this Aunt and while my Mama didn’t have that same pitcher, she did a have ball pitcher that was blue and served ice tea from it, as did my Grandma! Thanks for sharing the recipe but even more for me, thanks for the memory!
Thank you for sharing your memories as well Vickie!!!
I have the exact pitcher in the above photo. I remember the Jewel Tea Man coming to our house when I was a little girl. My mother collected the stamps too! Ahhhh memories! I can’t wait to try this tea. It sounds delicious.
I hope you get the chance to try it soon!!
Yum! This sounds great for a hot afternoon in the garden!
Amen!! It is going to be perfect for a hot summer afternoon!!
I have some of these dishes. They were my beloved mother-in-law’s.
Love to hear the word’s beloved mother-in-law. I also had a precious mother-in-law and father-in-law. My husband felt the same way about my parents. Sounds like you and I were blessed! Thanks
What a treasure to have!!!
My mama had the entire set of those Jewel Tea dishes that she bought from the Jewel Tea man when I was growing up. Unfortunately, we broke nearly all of them over the passage of time. Only a few survived that my sisters and I divided when our mama died. Your post brought back precious memories. Thank you!
I am so glad you enjoyed it Angela!!
There was a Mexican restaurant called.the El Cocina in our area that made this punch. It was the best! Quite a few of the local cookbooks have the recipe for “El Cocina Punch” in them.
How fun!!
I have my grandmother’s entire set of Jewel Tea Dishes, with the tea pitcher and all the serving pieces. They are beautiful on a fall table, especially for Thanksgiving. I wish I could find one of those cookbooks to go along with the dishes!
I use my Granny’s jewel tea dishes at Thanksgiving too!
What a treasure to have!! They are beautiful dishes to use for Thanksgiving!!
Can’t wait to make this tea/punch. It’s the perfect back porch drink in Summer. Thanks for the recipe and the story. I remember as a child my grandmother ordering her vanilla from a traveling salesman. I also remember the icebox buried in the ground by the front porch and covering the area to keep it in shade was a wisteria vine. The ice man came from town once a week and brought your ice in huge blocks. We had iced tea every day! Old memories are the best!
Oh my goodness and what wonderful memories those are!!! Yes, I plan to sit on the porch a great deal this summer, sipping this tea!!
Loved the original recipe…got quite a charge out of “charged water” …was that water that had an electrical charge in it??? lol Thanks for always sharing great recipes and fun!!!
Actually, in a complicated science-y way, yes! But we would just call it club soda or seltzer water now, and it’s great with lemonade, so it would be great with this tea-punch; maybe less sweet and more refreshing than sweet drinks like Sprite or 7-Up or gingerale.
I buy lemon-lime seltzer water, it has no sugar and might go well with this recipe. It’s also refreshing on its own.
I also have some Jewel tea serving bowls from my grandmother. If I recall they also made another pattern.
LOL, charged water was soda water 🙂
I have my Granny’s Jewel Tea Dishes & I have several of the peanut butter glasses too 🙂
Thanks for sharing the recipe,can’t wait to try it 🙂
I hope you get the chance to try it soon!!!
I love old recipes! I’m going to guess that “charged water” might be club soda or maybe seltzer water. I plan to try making this with one of those, then make it using Sprite Zero for comparison. I do enjoy punch a whole bunch. (Tee hee)
Yes; it’s fun to experiment like scientists in the kitchen!
I have the same glasses!! Have you seen the ad for “Big Top” peanutbutter that came in those glasses? Looks like a refreshingly cool drink! I love reading vintage recipes, and old cookbooks.
There use to be a restaurant in Franklin, TN at the factory mall ,they served this. I have tried and tried to make it at home but it was never the same. Well now it is!!! Thank you for sharing!!!
Oh wow, so glad you can make it at home now!!
Since you recommend Southern Breeze, perhaps you could tell me where to find it? I found one box at my local Publix and not one since. Nothing at any of the other stores, either.
You can purchase the Southern Breeze brand tea on Amazon. I found a box of their peach tea at Walmart, bought it, fell in love with it, and never found it again! I was so happy to find it on Amazon, and I have regular delivery now through Amazon’s Subscribe and Save. It’s very good either hot or cold, especially for zero calorie, but you’d never know it isn’t sugar-sweetened.
And as a native Texan, I’m very picky about my tea (always Lipton), and this tea is a worthy competitor!
If you can’t find it at one of your local grocery stores you can order it on Amazon.
They also sell it on their own page on FB.or online.
I have Mother’s big bowl with the autumn pattern on it. It’s big and very heavy. She had it for as long as I can remember.
Goodness at all the wonderful dishes that have been served out of that bowl!!!
Christy….my grandmother and then my mother had the whole set of Jewel tea dishes…I have them now for safe keeping since I got my Mom’s dining set and china cabinet. My sisters and I wanted to share the dishes, but my dad was adamant that they stay together after my mom passed away. I can’t wait to try this recipe and will get out the ball pitcher from the Jewel tea service. Miss my Mama every day. HUGS
What a wonderful treasure to have!! I can understand your dad not wanting the set split up, hopefully one day you and your sister can figure out a way for you both to enjoy it!!
Thank you for this recipe . . . the dishes and the recipe bring back great memories. And thank you for giving us the recipe with the amount of sugar, too, since I’m allergic to artificial sweeteners!
I hope you enjoy it Cyndy!!!
This is a beautiful picture, Christy! I made it my Desktop picture! My Mama also had those very glasses and seems like Bama grape jelly came in them. Can’t wait to try this cool recipe. . . it’s sure to be great on a hot summer day:)
Oh my goodness, thank you so much Lois!!! That just made my day!!
I’m thinking that when granddaddy comes over in a couple weeks I will give him a ‘miniature’ of his favorite, ‘Southern Comfort’ and let him pour his own. He always told us that his first job was a bagger at the Jewel Tea Grocery Store in SW Ohio. They delivered to your home back then in those dark brown colord trucks like UPS uses now.
How precious!! I hope you enjoy your visit!!!
This gives me a better appreciation for the Jewel Tea dishes I inherited from my husband’s grandmother. My favorite is a teapot. Thank you for the explanation and the yummy recipe!
🙂 I just love the old dishes from my grandmothers!!
I was getting ready to write my comment and ask about the glasses, when I saw from another comment they had been used for peanut butter or jelly. I am also privileged to have a beautiful bowl that I knew came from the Jewel Tea Company that my grandma gave me. She lived in the mountains of Virginia – 30 miles from the nearest town, so if the Jewel Tea man came by there, I think it would have been a major event… Wonderful to imagine times like that…
I love those glasses 🙂 You can see an original ad for them on this blog post: https://www.southernplate.com/2009/07/celebrate-with-fresh-strawberryade.html
My Momma has all of her mother’s (Maw-Maw) and her grandmother’s (Little Maw-Maw) Jewel T dishes and I remember drinking out of those glasses at Maw-Maw’s house! Funny when I first saw the post title, I immediately thought of the Almond Tea Punch that was so popular at wedding and baby showers in the 80’s and 90’s! Guess I’m really dating myself now! I’ll have to try this one, those pineapple Lifesavers were my fav!
I hope you get the chance to try it soon!!
Oh my, my daddy was a Jewel tea man so I’m glad I saw this today. Those glasses are pretty but were sure hard to handwash when milk or stuff dried on the outside as I stood on a chair to do dishes 🙂
I agree!!!
When growing up I well remember the Jewel Tea man making deliveries of items my mother had ordered. The Autumn Leaf design ball pitcher brings back more memories for that patterns was my mother-in-law’s every day dishes. She used her pitcher to serve iced tea in. She also had a coffee pitcher she used to serve coffee at the table. I have my mother’s dessert glasses which are like the photo your Vintage Ice Tea Punch is served in. Jell-O, tapioca, strawberry shortcake and so many other desserts were served in those short dishes, and I use them for serving mousse and other desserts in. I adore your recipes for they remind me of my original Southern roots.
Thank you so much Fran!!! I am so glad you are enjoying the recipes and memories with me and appreciate all of your support!!
Wow, it has been since I was a child in which I drank this. My Gram made it for me. Yes, it was called Hawaiian Punch. We made it for big gatherings or showers. I have it in my recipe box from the early 60’s. I will have to make it sugar free for this summer while going down memory lane. I am 67 yrs. old and my Gram and parents are deceased and oh how I miss them.
Thanks Christy for the fond memories
Oh my goodness, I love that y’all used to make it and you still have the recipe!!!
I am excited to try this. I am having the church ladies over in June and this will be perfect to serve!
I hope they all love it as much as we do!!
The Jewel Tea Man…I am old enough to remember him coming to our home and my Mom buying from him. It was always exciting, like a carny who only has a few moments to get your attention. The Jewel Tea Man was welcomed into our home. The Tropical Iced Tea, refreshing, and can’t wait to try. Memories of Jewel Tea also brought to mind others who did home delivery, the milk man with the metal milk box built into your home that had inside/outside access; the beverage man who delivered wooden crates of soda and other beverages, the bread man, the fruit & veggie man, the sharpening knives man, and of course the “rags man.” Love your posts!
🙂 I wish we still had all those delivery people!!!
You also had Charles Potato Chips delivered in that big gold round can.. We also had an egg man until he made a pass at mom. Dad suggested he should not return!! ha ha
I not only remember the Jewel Tea man delivering I also remember my mom buying his wares as they used to call the thing he sold. I have to bowls and use them all the time. What great memories, I’m 80 years old so I especially remember the vanilla he sold. If my Mom didn’t have it we did not get fresh baked good until he came around again. I’d like a cookbook also, this I do not remember. Thanks!
Oh my goodness!! What wonderful memories!!!
Mom has those dishes and has promised them to me…hope! This tea, minus the fresh fruit, has been served in my family…wonderfully refreshing.
This reminds me of a recipe I have called Fruit Tea. It uses pineapple juice and frozen lemonade. Fruit flavored tea is delicious no matter what fruit you use.
I agree Lora!!!
This has to be a delicious punch. Thanks for sharing.
My little Granny in Tennessee bought tea and coffee from a traveling salesman, but I believe the name of that company was Standard Coffee and Tea.. She had a beautiful tea pot she got from them. My brother has it in his home , on display, today.
She made the best iced tea I ever tasted.
Wish I could go ack and spend one of those days again. I’ll have to wait and see her in Heaven.
What a joyous reunion that will be!!!
Does this ever bring back memories. While I don’t have any of those dishes my mom did. The Jewel Tea man as we called him would stop ever other week at our northern Ky home and my mother always ordered something. I also remember getting clothing from him. This was in the late 50s and early 60s. I don’t remember when they stopped making house calls. I’m going to make this punch and sit on my patio and reminisce about those days while I sip away. Thanks Christy for the memories.
I hope you enjoy the punch and the memories Jane!!!
Thanks for bringing back “long ago memories”! The Jewel Tea Man even came down to Winter Park, FL (small town just north of Orlando) – where I grew up. Moma didn’t buy any of the dishes, but she did buy the coffee pot (complete with the coffee drip section) as well as the custard/pudding dishes and even a 3 piece casserole set. Over the years, I picked up the creamer & sugar set and a tea cup & saucer. I usually display these items during the fall – wonderful memories!!!
After moving to Birmingham back in 1972 – we had milk delivery to our door!!! Wow! My, my how times have changed . . . yes, a trip down memory lane sure is nice!
Yes Katie, times sure have changed!!
Thank you, Christy. Love the website and recipies!
Thank YOU Dixie!!!
Please enter me in your drawing.
You mentioned Southern Breeze sweet tea. I love it, but my local grocery store has stopped carrying it. (I bought up all they had in two stores when they discounted it.) My stockpile is running low now. I think I can get it on Amazon, but kind of expensive, I think. Is there someplace else to purchase on line or any where near Charlotte, NC still carry it?
I have a coupon for Luzianne sweet tea bags, but I haven’t seen it in stores yet. I recently found Lipton sweet tea bags, but I haven’t tried that yet.
Southern Breeze tea is SO GOOD. I don’t drink anything else so I go through two bags every day, it seems.
They have a store locator on their website that you could try using to see if any other stores in your area carry their products. Here is the link: https://southernbreezesweettea.com/pages/store-locator
My mother used to buy things from the Jewel Tea man. I remember him coming to the house when I was growing up. She collected a whole set of the Autumn Leaf dishes which I still have plus I was given several other pieces that a sister and a sister-in-law had collected. I don’t have the pitcher but do have a teapot that looks like an Aladin’s lamp. I also think I recognize that cookbook which I think might still be around somewhere in my house since I also have all her cookbooks. Will have to try this recipe!