Dennis Williams
Gone but not forgotten
More tea Vicar? Typhoo's Beginnings…..the story of Birmingham’s John Sumner and the birth of the TyPhoo Tea Company…
Tea is possibly the one product that everyone comes across or uses every day of their lives. In fact it some cases it seems that the day cannot start without tea and must be stopped for tea and must finish with tea!
The tea plant (Camellia sinensis) was cultivated in China in the 4th century for medicinal purposes. In England the earliest mention of tea in writing seems to be in 1615. On 25th September 1660 the diarist, Samuel Pepys, wrote that he had tasted tea for the first time. Tea drinking had arrived in London but it was only for the rich, as it was very expensive. The earliest reference to tea drinking in Birmingham was in 1742.
Tea would have to come by horse transport to Birmingham, so this accounted for its expense. In 1767 one tea warehouse in Birmingham was Mansells (Sketchleys Birmingham Gazette). Ironically perhaps, it would seem that public tea drinking came about by public houses opening tea gardens.
By the 19th century tea was being served in inns and coffee houses, and by 1812 there were 25 recorded tea dealers in Birmingham. In 1824 John Cadbury set up as a tea dealer and coffee roaster at 93 Bull Street, and his story is already on here…
By the turn of the 20th century, Birmingham had over sixty tea merchants selling mostly large leaf tea. John Sumner, was born 26 February 1856 in Birmingham. In 1824 his grandfather (William) and father (John) had established a grocery business in the High Street corner of the Bull ring in Birmingham, after they bought Pratchetts and Nobles grocery and druggists shop at 97/98 Bull Ring. In 1820, William married into the Hutton family, and Typhoo Tea was launched from this site - where The Times furnishing buildings now houses Waterstones the booksellers, next door to William Hutton’s premises.
In the early 1900s John Sumner senior, now in his seventies, left the running of the High Street shop to his son. John junior was happy with the successful business, but had long sought a speciality product to develop. The answer came from his sister Mary Augusta. She suffered from indigestion and had tried a special tea made from tiny particles, not the large leaf variety that was common. The tea brought her great relief from her indigestion and she approached John to suggest he sold the tea in his shop.
John Sumner
At that time, John Sumner’s family lived not a stone’s throw from me now in Yardley, in a delightful place called May’s Cottage…or simply, The Cottage…on the corner of Stoney Lane and Vicarage Road…but on with the story….
The Cottage
Vicarage Road....
1911 Census entry for the Sumners
John decided to go ahead. He bought 30 chests of tea and spent £200 on advertising, even though his friends suggested he might be wasting his money. John decided that, instead of selling the tea loose over the counter, he would packet the tea under a brand name. The criteria he placed on choosing a name for his tea were:
The name must be distinctive and unlike others:
It must be one which would trip off the tongue
It must be one which could be protected by registration
He finally settled on Typhoo Tipps. Typhoo meaning, in part, the Chinese word for doctor. The double ‘p’ in Tipps was originally a printing error, but remained misspelt on the packets of tea for many years.
The Typhoo brand is well known in Britain for its long-running television commercial campaign jingles, such as :
Putting 'T' back into Britain
There's only one 'T' in Typhoo
You only get an 'OO' with Typhoo
For the tea that picks you up, pick up Typhoo
Making Good tea since 1903
Typhoo Tea - Two Thumbs Fresh
Typhoo was the first brand of tea to be sold pre-packaged rather than loose over the counter. In order to encourage his customers to purchase the tea John gave away a jar of cream to each person that bought a pound packet. The tea quickly became popular and John's customers were becoming loyal to the brand that. Word of mouth recommendation from John's customers led beyond his regular clientele and soon other grocers were asking to purchase the Typhoo tea, inspiring John to set up his wholesale agency trade.
1905 saw John close his grocery business in order to pay off debts to the bank. However, he took the opportunity to invest in Typhoo and create a private company. On 29 July 1905, and financed by John's friends, Typhoo Tea Ltd was incorporated.
In the first year, Typhoo managed to show a small profit and silence the critics that said John would never make a business from small-leafed tea. John had, however, drawn attention to tea made from the edge of the leaf. This pure-edge leaf tea produced 80 more cups to the pound than ordinary tea and also cut out the stalk that contained tannin and caused indigestion. John even managed to get his tea recommended by doctors and was able to sell it through chemists' shops.
As early as 1906 John Sumner was having special Typhoo branded teapots made to sell to his customers. He also inserted circulars into the tea packets to highlight its benefits, and included picture cards on a range of subjects, which became very collectable. I remember some of them well, when they revived this sales gimmick in the 50’s…especially the football team ones…Some lovely examples of these can be seen here…
https://www.englishteastore.com/typhoo-history.html
Tea is possibly the one product that everyone comes across or uses every day of their lives. In fact it some cases it seems that the day cannot start without tea and must be stopped for tea and must finish with tea!
The tea plant (Camellia sinensis) was cultivated in China in the 4th century for medicinal purposes. In England the earliest mention of tea in writing seems to be in 1615. On 25th September 1660 the diarist, Samuel Pepys, wrote that he had tasted tea for the first time. Tea drinking had arrived in London but it was only for the rich, as it was very expensive. The earliest reference to tea drinking in Birmingham was in 1742.
Tea would have to come by horse transport to Birmingham, so this accounted for its expense. In 1767 one tea warehouse in Birmingham was Mansells (Sketchleys Birmingham Gazette). Ironically perhaps, it would seem that public tea drinking came about by public houses opening tea gardens.
By the 19th century tea was being served in inns and coffee houses, and by 1812 there were 25 recorded tea dealers in Birmingham. In 1824 John Cadbury set up as a tea dealer and coffee roaster at 93 Bull Street, and his story is already on here…
By the turn of the 20th century, Birmingham had over sixty tea merchants selling mostly large leaf tea. John Sumner, was born 26 February 1856 in Birmingham. In 1824 his grandfather (William) and father (John) had established a grocery business in the High Street corner of the Bull ring in Birmingham, after they bought Pratchetts and Nobles grocery and druggists shop at 97/98 Bull Ring. In 1820, William married into the Hutton family, and Typhoo Tea was launched from this site - where The Times furnishing buildings now houses Waterstones the booksellers, next door to William Hutton’s premises.
In the early 1900s John Sumner senior, now in his seventies, left the running of the High Street shop to his son. John junior was happy with the successful business, but had long sought a speciality product to develop. The answer came from his sister Mary Augusta. She suffered from indigestion and had tried a special tea made from tiny particles, not the large leaf variety that was common. The tea brought her great relief from her indigestion and she approached John to suggest he sold the tea in his shop.
John Sumner
At that time, John Sumner’s family lived not a stone’s throw from me now in Yardley, in a delightful place called May’s Cottage…or simply, The Cottage…on the corner of Stoney Lane and Vicarage Road…but on with the story….
The Cottage
Vicarage Road....
1911 Census entry for the Sumners
John decided to go ahead. He bought 30 chests of tea and spent £200 on advertising, even though his friends suggested he might be wasting his money. John decided that, instead of selling the tea loose over the counter, he would packet the tea under a brand name. The criteria he placed on choosing a name for his tea were:
The name must be distinctive and unlike others:
It must be one which would trip off the tongue
It must be one which could be protected by registration
He finally settled on Typhoo Tipps. Typhoo meaning, in part, the Chinese word for doctor. The double ‘p’ in Tipps was originally a printing error, but remained misspelt on the packets of tea for many years.
The Typhoo brand is well known in Britain for its long-running television commercial campaign jingles, such as :
Putting 'T' back into Britain
There's only one 'T' in Typhoo
You only get an 'OO' with Typhoo
For the tea that picks you up, pick up Typhoo
Making Good tea since 1903
Typhoo Tea - Two Thumbs Fresh
Typhoo was the first brand of tea to be sold pre-packaged rather than loose over the counter. In order to encourage his customers to purchase the tea John gave away a jar of cream to each person that bought a pound packet. The tea quickly became popular and John's customers were becoming loyal to the brand that. Word of mouth recommendation from John's customers led beyond his regular clientele and soon other grocers were asking to purchase the Typhoo tea, inspiring John to set up his wholesale agency trade.
1905 saw John close his grocery business in order to pay off debts to the bank. However, he took the opportunity to invest in Typhoo and create a private company. On 29 July 1905, and financed by John's friends, Typhoo Tea Ltd was incorporated.
In the first year, Typhoo managed to show a small profit and silence the critics that said John would never make a business from small-leafed tea. John had, however, drawn attention to tea made from the edge of the leaf. This pure-edge leaf tea produced 80 more cups to the pound than ordinary tea and also cut out the stalk that contained tannin and caused indigestion. John even managed to get his tea recommended by doctors and was able to sell it through chemists' shops.
As early as 1906 John Sumner was having special Typhoo branded teapots made to sell to his customers. He also inserted circulars into the tea packets to highlight its benefits, and included picture cards on a range of subjects, which became very collectable. I remember some of them well, when they revived this sales gimmick in the 50’s…especially the football team ones…Some lovely examples of these can be seen here…
https://www.englishteastore.com/typhoo-history.html