The Jewel Tea Company

Did you know that home delivery of groceries was invented long before InstaCart and Amazon? The Jewel Tea Company was founded in 1899 by Frank Skiff and his brother-in-law, Frank Ross, and the mode of transportation was horse and buggy! Frank started with $700 and delivered dry goods such as tea, coffee and spices around Chicago. When his brother-in-law joined him, they named the company the Jewel Tea Company because ‘jewel” was a popular word of the time that meant great or valuable. Frank’s roasted coffee and different teas were actually their main products.

Many vendors delivered dry goods door to door and many offered coupons that could be saved up to redeem for a rug or broom or something. Frank decided that would be a good idea and they also began to offer premiums. By 1901 they had reached a million dollars in sales and built their own factory as they had over 400 routes throughout the midwest.

Skiff sold his interest in the company for $16 million in 1916 and retired. The company expanded to storefronts, had mail order catalogs and several production facilities. They purchased several grocery stores that they relabeled “Jewel” and dropped the “tea.”

In the mid 1920’s, Jewel contracted with the Hall China Company to produce china pieces as premiums for the customers. The most popular pattern was Autumn Leaf, which still has a national collector’s club and was the most popular premium. One of my aunts in Pennsylvania was a serious collector of Autumn Leaf. I never knew the name of it though because she just called it Jewel Tea!

I run across the old Hall china pieces all the time at estate sales. It was built to last and has stood the test of time, except for the pieces with gold on them that people put in the dishwasher and shouldn’t have.

There is so much more to learn about this company at chicagology.com. It’s really quite interesting but too much information to share here. The company actually survived until the early 1980’s until the recession caused them to call it quits. I guess we will see what companies will survive this next recession! Happy Collecting!

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