Gypsy Tea Camp, Brooklyn 1930s
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Open from noon till midnight, Gypsy Tea Camps were dark and atmospheric themed dining spots offering free tealeaf readings to circumvent laws in the 1930s against fortune-telling for profit.
Located in the New York neighborhoods of Brooklyn, Jamaica and Flushing, they boasted of having a ‘fascinating gypsy atmosphere,’ although it’s unlikely there were any bona-fide gypsies there.
More likely, the waitresses and fortune-tellers were women in costume.
As you can see from the interior menu, the food on offer was basic but the purchase price included the free fortune-telling session.
These establishments catered mostly to women seeking distraction from their daily lives and answers to questions about financial or domestic worries or whether they would meet a dark, handsome stranger in the future.
City authorities, however, didn’t go along with the description of fortune-telling as ‘light entertainment.’ They thought it might make vulnerable women melancholy and wanted to curb scams where ‘psychics’ demanded large sums to remove curses or evil spirits.
Tearooms or tea camps were a way to circumvent these restrictions. Most people considered them harmless fun.
Each order includes a print of the interior menu.
All printed in USA.
