History

Enjoying a cup of fine tea has been a daily tradition in our family for over 150 years.  We hope it becomes your tradition too.

Our family’s affair with tea began when Oliver S. Carter, our great-great-great grandfather, established a successful tea importing business in New York City.  By 1860 Carter, Hawley & Co. was importing fine teas from Asia to satisfy Americans’ growing tastes for this ancient and divine drink.

By 1886, Oliver formed Carter, Macy & Co. with his new son-in-law, George H. Macy.  George was a Quaker and a descendant of Nantucket whalers who had been earning their livings abroad for generations.  The partnership created a tea importing business that would thrive for decades.  By the early twentieth century, Carter, Macy & Co. maintained headquarters in New York, and had offices in London, Chicago, San Francisco, and across Asia in every country of origin where tea was grown.  They had tea-processing facilities in Japan’s Yokohama and Kobe, China’s Shanghai, Hankow, and Amoy, as well as Formosa’s Taipei, India’s Calcutta, and Ceylon’s Colombo.  Some have estimated that during the first decade of the twentieth century, one out of every five cups of tea consumed in the United States came to American shores through the hands of Carter, Macy & Co.

Today we are reminded that what we all enjoy most about tea is its ethereal quality—what our ancestors called The Cup That Cheers.  At G.H. Macy & Co., we strive to bring you high quality teas sourced from the world’s finest tea gardens, just as our ancestors have done for generations.  Let our efforts be focused for and dedicated to all those happy people who relish a cup of pure, fragrant, appetizing tea.

November 14, 2011

Jamie and Alex Duffee