Posted by PeterH on June 14, 2006 at 19:14:27 from 86.142.67.162 user Peter_H.
In Reply to: Re: Milk In Tea posted by Jock on June 14, 2006 at 16:51:12:
There seems to be confusion over some of the ceramic terms being used here. First of all, 'porcelain' and 'china' are not different things - 'china', in Britain, has always meant bone china, which is a form of porcelain. Bone china was invented round about 1800, in Stoke, Staffordshire, by Josiah Spode. It soon became the standard porcelain body used in Britain, fired at 1250- 1300 degrees centigrade. If properly made, bone china cups can withstand boiling water indefinitely. When tea cups crack, this is usually due to impact, or cumulative impact on repeated washing. Occasionally, a cup can 'spring' a crack, ie a body-tension created during the firing process finally erupts. Cups which have a lower quality mixture of clay, or have been made at a small pottery with lower production standards, are more likely to crack. This is why cheap china tends to crack more than top-quality china.
Before 1800, the British manufacturers each struggled to make a form of porcelain. Results varied, but often the result, when fired, was brittle, and tended to crack when subjected to boiling water. Also, when filled with hot tea, the handle sometimes fell off the cup. Imported Chinese porcelain was far more robust, which is why it was so popular (and gave its name to the British porcelain - 'china').
I do not honestly believe that the milk first or second question has anything to do with 'class'. I base this belief on my experience of friends and relations throughout my life - their preferences seem completely random. I am afraid that this 'class' idea is yet another of the 'class myths' that have bedevilled British social history.