MORNING COFFEE

Serving coffee to guests became an honored tradition with time. Ceremonies such as asking for a girl's hand in marriage, engagements, weddings, birthdays and religious feasts always included an hour of coffee drinking. And the words "Come by for a cup of coffee" were an invitation for a brief visit.

Such visits often took the form of 'morning coffee' gatherings among women. Finishing up their early morning household chores, girls and women young and old would be ready for coffee by ten o'clock. For neighbors, relatives, friends and acquaintances could show up unannounced any time between 10 and 12 when there was a standing invitation to every home.