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| J's Tea-rific Teapot Museum, Elloree, S.C. |
I came across the Teapot Museum by happy accident and was blown away to realize I just missed the grand opening ceremony earlier this week. I didn't expect to come across a giant blue teapot in a parking lot behind main street shops in tiny Elloree, S.C. and now I see it has already made it onto the
Roadside America directory.
I am most upset to have missed soprano Deborah Saverance of the Metropolitan Opera Chorus performing tea-themed selections at the ribbon cutting ceremony.
ELLOREE — It’s tea time. Julian and Sybil Boland will hold the grand
opening of their “tea-rific” museum Saturday, June 9, at the rear of
Boland’s Pharmacy on Cleveland Street in Elloree. There, a larger-than-life custom-built teapot will welcome visitors to J’s Tea-rific Teapot Museum.
Julian Boland said the unique 20-foot blue entryway is complete with a spout, handle and lid.
The Bolands have been collecting teapots for at least 20
years. Some of the pots in their collection were purchased by the
couple, others were given as gifts, and some have endured long journeys
from overseas. Boland said he doesn’t know just how many teapots he and his wife have, but it’s likely in the tens of thousands. He said the teapot museum has been “years in the making,”
and credits his wife with arranging, cleaning, collecting and
displaying the pots.
Each teapot has a specific place in the museum. For
example, Boland hired a carpenter to construct a shelving display in the
form of Noah’s ark — and on that display are dozens of teapots
depicting the Biblical story.
The ark shelving display is also home to dozens of
animal-shaped teapots, keeping in true form the Old Testament story
where God instructs Noah and his family to gather two of each animal and
place them in an ark to avoid impending flood waters. In the form of
teapots, there are dozens of animals aboard the ark. And the museum is flooded with teapots.
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| Fresh tea, straight from the spout! |
