Many people gave up tea for the duration of the war and offered various substitute beverages such as coffee and dried raspberry leaves, "a detestable drink" which the Americans "had the heroism to find good," remarked a postwar visitor, Léon Chotteau.[16] Although the colonists had banished tea "with enthusiasm," the tea habit was not forgotten. Chotteau further noted that "they all drink tea in America as they drink wine in the South of France." Tea drinking continued to be an important social custom in the new nation well into the 19th century. The tea ceremony, sometimes simple, sometimes elaborate, was the very core of family life. Moreau de St. Méry observed in 1795, during his residence in Philadelphia, that "the whole family is united at tea, to which friends, acquaintances and even strangers are invited."[17] That teatime hospitality was offered to the newest of acquaintances or "even strangers" is verified by Claude Blanchard. He wrote of his visit to Newport, Rhode Island, on July 12, 1780, that "in the evening there was an illumination. I entered the house of an inhabitant, who received me very well; I took tea there, which was served by a young lady." And while staying in Boston, Blanchard mentioned that a new acquaintance "invited us to come in the evening to take tea at his house. We went there; the tea was served by his daughter."[18] In the daily routine of activities when the hour for tea arrived, Moreau de St. Méry remarked that "the mistress of the house serves it and passes it around."[19] In the words of another late-18th-century diarist, the Marquis de Barbé-Marbois, those present might "seat themselves at a spotless mahogany table, and the eldest daughter of the household or one of the youngest married women makes the tea and gives a cup to each person in the company." _Family Group_ (fig. 1) provides an illustration of this practice in the early part of the century. During the tea hour social and economic affairs were discussed, gossip exchanged, and, according to Barbé-Marbois, "when there is no news at all, they repeat old stories."[20] Many entries in Nancy Shippen's journal[21] between 1783 and 1786 indicate that this Philadelphian passed many such hours in a similar manner. On March 11, 1785, she wrote: "About 4 in the Afternoon D^r Cutting came in, & we spent the afternoon in the most agreable chit-chat manner, drank a very good dish of Tea together & then separated." Part of an undated entry in December 1783 reads: "This Afternoon we were honor'd with the Company of Gen^l Washington to Tea, M^{rs} & Major Moore, M^{rs} Stewart M^r Powel M^r B Washington, & two or 3 more." If acquaintances of Nancy's own age were present or the company large, the tea hour often extended well into the evening with singing, conversing, dancing, and playing of whist, chess, or cards. Of one such occasion she wrote:[21]