Mary Aletta Crump: Queen Of Crumpets

During the first four decades of the twentieth century, the tea room thrived in America. These charmingly humble establishments, usually required little start-up capital and therefore proved very attractive endeavors for women, quite often, recent graduates or recently widowed or divorced women. The most charming tea rooms were opened roadside in old farmhouses or tumble down barns and emphasized a sense of genteel poverty. Naturally, tumble down barns were scarce in early twentieth century New York, so old storefronts made for adequate substiutes. Around 1916 Mary Aletta Crump, along with her aged mother, opened the first in a string of "Crumperies" throughout Greenwich Village, they moved locations when rents were raised or more attractive spaces became availible. by the late 1920s Mary Aletta Crump was out of business, but she left a lasting impression on Greenwich Village and scores immitated her. I have recently found some images of her and one of her "Crumperies" taken by legendary photographer Jessie Tarbox Beals c.1918