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Historical Tour of E. Waldo Ward & Son + Four Seasons Tea Room SIERRA MADRE

Historical Tour of E. Waldo Ward & Son + Four Seasons Tea Room SIERRA MADRE
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I have arranged a very special afternoon in the spirit of the Holidays!

$51 includes both parts with gratuity

$51 PayPal or Venmo (not if waitlisted) to reserve your space. NON-refundable. If you need to cancel please post in comments your RSVP is available. YOU will be responsible to collect the fee from the waitlist. Payment contact provided upon RSVP made within 48-hrs or subject to removal.

December’s Historical Tour is another example of a true hidden gem- E. Waldo Ward & Son Marmalades followed by High Tea at the charming Four Seasons Tea Room. E. Waldo Ward & Son supplies the marmalades we will be savoring during Tea (1 min drive).

Est. in 1891, E. Waldo Ward & Son has been manufacturing gourmet marmalades, jams, jellies, sauces, fruit syrups, relishes and packers of Spanish olives. Touring this 130 year old small company is truly a UNIQUE experience! We are very fortunate to have Jeff Ward- 4th generation great grandson of this marmalade family-run legacy as our tour guide!

E. Waldo Ward & Son’s gift shop, factory, offices & citrus grove are hidden from the street- you’d miss the discreet little sign and their fantastic array of products such as blood orange marmalade, sweet-tart pickled kumquats or “sliced cucumbers”. The marmalades & preserves are made with fresh citrus peel from the family’s orchard and pure cane sugar, rather than with corn syrup, as most mass-produced jams are made.

Perfect opportunity to pick up some Holiday Gifts. You’ll love their assortment of products & gift baskets!

HISTORY OF E. WALDO WARD & SON

Back in 1891, Edwin Waldo Ward Sr. moved to Sierra Madre with a dream. He was a New York-based food salesman who, like so many at the turn of the 20th century, came west for his health. He bought 10 acres and then gradually expanded his holdings to create a 30-acre citrus ranch. He married in 1900 and built the stately Victorian home & the red barn in 1902. Both buildings are still used today.

One of the products Ward had been flogging as a salesman was English marmalade. He decided that marmalade could be made just as well in CA, and imported and planted Seville orange trees, the variety used in marmalade.

In 1915 Ward began experimenting with recipes, and in 1917 he built the factory and began making marmalade. His biggest customers were the railroads and Fred Harvey (famous for his restaurants & hotels along the railroad lines- in LA the site of the now Western Brewing Co. at Union Station), for whom Ward made “ringlet” marmalade, which contained an artful array of round Seville slices. In the ‘20s Ward began adding items, starting with jams. By the ‘40s he was importing and hand-stuffing olives from Spain.

A walk through the factory today and you’ll find that many of the machines and burners in use could just as easily be in a museum. The employees work with burners that date from 1915 as well as a 1930 stainless steel citrus-peel slicer with a wall full of accessories.

There’s a museum room in the barn where the Ward’s have stashed the apparatus they’ve outgrown, such as the original machine that capped the jars. On one wall are 3 vintage citrus crate labels, including an art nouveau rendering of a beautiful woman, her hair floating sensuously around an orange.

Spread out behind the buildings are the citrus groves. During the Depression, the Wards sold their south property and more acreage was sold in subsequent years. Now the Ward family have just under three acres where they grow pesticide-free blood oranges, Valencias, Sevilles, tangerines, tangelos and kumquats for their products.

ROYAL HIGH TEA IN OUR OWN PRIVATE PARLOR ROOM. PLEASE WEAR A FASCINATOR.

Includes Hot Tea, Five Tea Sandwiches, House Salad: Mixed Greens, Toasted Almonds, Mandarin Oranges & Crumbled Blue Cheese in their House Rose Petal Vinaigrette. Famous Scone with Cream & Jam, Blueberry Lemon Cheesecake, Lemon Bar & Shortbread Cookie.

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