Articles by Alan Ayckbourn
This article was written by Alan Ayckbourn for the publication Who Was Betty? published in 2011. The book asked authors to write their own idea of who the famous Yorkshire tea-rooms Bettys were named after; it's not apparently known who the tea-rooms were named for.Who Was Betty?
The truth is there was no such person as Betty. ‘Betty’ was dreamt up by the Tea room’s first public relations officer in 1922, one Josiah Candlewick, who created the mnemonic Best Ever Tasty Teas Yet which, because of lack of space on the cafeĢ’s original frontage, was immediately shortened to B E T T Y. This became colloquially known as Bettys and so finally, bowing to public pressure, the owners added the ‘s’ to the signage (certainly more than Marks and Spencer ever did) which is how we know the much loved Tea Rooms to this very day.Copyright: Haydonning Ltd. Please do not reproduce without the permission of the copyright holder.