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Stuart Cranston became a tea dealer at a time when Glasgow had a strong temperance movement and tea, until the 1830s a luxury for the rich, was increasingly being seen as an alternative to alcohol for the working classes. Stuart pioneered the idea of tea rooms in which his tea could be drunk in simple surroundings. Although his sister Kate was not the first in the family to enter the business, when she established the Crown Luncheon Room on Glasgow's Argyle Street in 1878 she took the tea room to another level, placing great emphasis on the quality of the design and decor, on cleanliness, and on quality and choice of food. (Note the spelling of Argyll Street on the spoon as oposed to Argyle Street as it is spelled today). Property of Robert Pool