The afternoon teas, or at homes as they were called at Rutherford House, were not only important social events. They provided a necessary vehicle for moving up the social ladder. And as historian Lisa Mort-Putland explains, the role of women should not be underestimated:

We tend to think of society as being very masculine and most of the work being done in libraries over a brandy or a cognac. However, the social parties and tea parties of the day were very important. The women?s liberation movement started in ladies? parlours where ladies began to talk about their lack of rights and their lack of ownerships. And so it became a place where you could sit and visit and talk without the influences of men. And when you would go to three or four houses in an afternoon, you could squeeze in a wonderful conversation with a great number of people. And so you really did want to be seen at an ?at home.

As well, during the early decades of the 1900?s, most business was conducted through a form of introduction.

You rarely walked into a store or business and not know anybody. So you needed an introduction, a formal introduction, to work together in most situations. And most of those introductions were not done by men. They were done by women and by partners. And so it was actually in the social circles of tea parties and afternoon visiting where a lot of business was conducted. If a lesser person or a lesser socially-placed person needed an introduction, then they needed to go to a tea party and find a common acquaintance who could introduce them. And then usually, wives generally invited those acquaintances to dinner, and the gentlemen would come along. And before you know it, a business partnership was struck over a teacup and over a dining room table. And you could move up the social ladder that way. A friend of a friend of a friend would soon become an acquaintance and then a business associate.

And as the ladies who took tea at Rutherford House well knew, getting ahead in Alberta in the early years depended on friendships more than luck.

On the Heritage Trail, I?m Cheryl Croucher.