author

Rodris Roth

Best known for a lively Smithsonian study of tea drinking in colonial America, this museum curator brought everyday objects to life by showing how they reflected taste, trade, and social habits. Her work remains a readable, vivid window into early American material culture.

1 Audiobook

Tea Drinking in 18th-Century America: Its Etiquette and Equipage United States National Museum Bulletin 225, Contributions from the Museum of History and Technology Paper 14, pages 61-91, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, 1961

Tea Drinking in 18th-Century America: Its Etiquette and Equipage United States National Museum Bulletin 225, Contributions from the Museum of History and Technology Paper 14, pages 61-91, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, 1961

by Rodris Roth

About the author

Rodris Roth was a curator at the Smithsonian's National Museum of History and Technology, later known as the National Museum of American History. Smithsonian records identify her as Curator of Costumes and Furnishings in the 1970s, and her published work shows a strong interest in the way ordinary household objects can reveal larger stories about American life.

She is especially associated with Tea Drinking in 18th-Century America: Its Etiquette and Equipage, a Smithsonian publication that explores how tea wares, customs, and imported goods shaped social life in the colonial period. Rather than treating cups, pots, and furnishings as simple antiques, Roth used them to tell a broader story about fashion, status, and daily ritual.

Although detailed biographical information is limited in the sources I could confirm, her writing still stands out for being clear, practical, and engaging. For listeners interested in early America, decorative arts, or the hidden history of everyday things, her work offers a smart and approachable guide.