Tea and Ethnicity in Southeastern Pennsylvania: A Transatlantic Perspective on German American Consumption

Abstract

German Americans expanded their communities in British colonial America by successfully negotiating transatlantic networks, yet most archaeological and material culture studies of this group privilege isolating folk culture and local production over transatlantic engagement. Imported consumer goods, including tea and coffee wares, are also part of German American assemblages, but they are often interpreted through British frameworks. By reframing the consumption of imported goods as a means of facilitating immigration and maintaining personal relationships abroad, I argue for an understanding of consumer goods that extends beyond fashion, status, and style to address the community-building networks these goods created. Exploring German engagement with these goods on both sides of the Atlantic challenges the understanding of immigrant experiences and material culture in early America, revealing ethnic motivations for consumption in southeastern Pennsylvania and reasons for variation in consumer behavior over time and throughout regions of German settlement.