Amanda Lange, curator at Historic Deerfield, explains how tea, coffee, and chocolate--originally prescribed as cures for ailments ranging from headaches and depressions--became counted among the necessities of daily life. Before 1650, a New England breakfast often included a mug of ale, beer, or hard wine. Yet, with the introduction of tea, coffee, and chocolate, the tastes of the Western world were forever changed.
Amanda Lange serves as the curatorial department chair and curator of historic interiors at Historic Deerfield, Inc. Her most recent exhibition, "The Canton Connection: Art and Commerce of the China Trade, 1784-1860," focused on trade relations between America and China in the late 18th and early 19th centuries as well as highlighting Historic Deerfield's remarkable collection of Chinese export art. As a Mars Fellow, Amanda has been researching the history of chocolate in early America for the last four years. She is a member of the Colonial Chocolate Society, a scholarly group of museum professionals, academics, and historians underwritten by the Mars Foundation.