Our 2008 Holiday Catalog has arrived. Like warm gloves and a scarf on a cold winter day, you are sure to find just what you need here. Among other things, we are celebrating the introduction of our Organic Teas with this fun hat box tower featuring three assorted-size, re-useable hat boxes filled with a Spode mug, lime confections, turtle supreme cookies, honey spoons, a small journal, key lime cookies and an assortment of Bigelow Organic Teas — 56 tea bags in all!

Celebration Tower

For those who love their tea no matter where they are, there is the Keurig® B-40 Elite Single Cup Tea & Coffee Brewing System with your favorite Bigelow Tea K-Cups. For another way to brew tea, learn more by viewing “A Perfect Cup of Tea With Cindi Bigelow”.

Assorted Bigelow K-Cups™

Our Table of Contents makes it easy to locate the perfect gift for all the tea fans on your gift list. Whether you want to embrace the morning with black tea and this Vera Bradley design Yellow Bird Teapot or go for the green in a Fern Tea for One teapot or even relax with herbal tea and some attitude in your Pink Cattitude Teapot, you are sure to find just what you need. Happy shopping!

Yellow Bird Teapot

Fern Tea for One

Pink Cattitude Teapot

Last weekend, Mr. and Mrs. Bigelow and a group of us from Bigelow attended The Sixth Annual Joe Torre Safe At Home Foundation® Gala in New York. It was an honor to attend such an important event and support such a powerful cause. The Safe At Home Foundation® provides an array of services combating domestic violence with a goal of providing a safe home environment for children.

The event was hosted by Joe and Ali Torre and honored the 1998 World Champion New York Yankees. Many of the Yankees from 1998 were there along with many stars and celebrities. However, while the stars were everywhere, it was clear the important mission of the Safe At Home Foundation® stole the show: “Together we can make a safe home.”

Bob

Joe Torre experienced domestic violence firsthand. His father was both a physically abusive husband and emotionally abusive father. Torre talks openly about this in his book, Chasing the Dream: My Lifelong Journey to the World Series. Joe Torre and his wife Ali founded the Safe At Home Foundation® in 2002. By 2005, the Joe Torre Safe At Home Foundation® opened its first school-based programming initiative, Margaret’s Place, a tribute to Torre’s mother.

Margaret’s Place provides students with a safe room in school where they can meet with a professional counselor trained in domestic-violence intervention and prevention. The Joe Torre Safe At Home Foundation® now has ten fully funded and operational Margaret’s Places in New York City and Westchester County.

According to the article “Can Green Tea Help With Gastrointestinal Illnesses?” by Jon M. Stout, tea company chairman, the UK Tea Council has reported on a study concluding that green tea seems to calm the inflammation that accompanies inflammatory bowel disease and other gastrointestinal problems. The reason for this is believed to be because green tea’s antioxidants spend a lot of time in the intestinal tract, where they have proven to have an anti-inflammatory effect on this part of the body. The two major types of IBD are ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.

IBD affects an estimated 600,000 Americans a year. Inflammatory bowel disease symptoms include abdominal cramps, bloody diarrhea, and fever. Other symptoms of IBD include weight loss.

As stated previously, the goal of IBD treatment is to suppress inflammation…it’s promising to think green tea may do just that!

Bigelow Tea and grocery and pharmacy retailer Jewel-Osco, which operates 186 stores in Illinois, Iowa and Indiana, have joined together in their mutual commitment to being green. Allied in their belief that protecting the environment is paramount, Bigelow Tea and Jewel-Osco are sponsoring the smart fortwo Sweepstakes. The sweepstakes runs from September 1st through December 10th. What can you win? A smart fortwo car, of course. Cool! How do you enter?

• Consumers automatically enter to win with a purchase of Bigelow Tea and use of their Jewel-Osco Preferred Card.
• Consumers can also enter with no purchase necessary, by completing an official entry form found at participating Jewel-Osco Stores in Illinois or Indiana, using the tear pad found on the shippers or on a 3”x5” piece of paper mailed to the participating PO Box.

For more information about the ecological benefits of driving a smart fortwo go here. Support us and Jewel-Osco, enter now!

Boy bands and tea are two things not often associated with one another, until now. A.J. McLean of The Backstreet Boys divulges one of his performance secrets: tea. The former “bad boy” has cleaned up his act and replaced his hard-partying lifestyle with a healthier one, enter tea.

“Fortunately for me I don’t drink or party anymore…I’m just trying to make sure I get plenty of rest and make sure I eat right. Drink lots and lots of tea,” McLean said.

The Backstreet Boys’ latest album, Unbreakable, was released on October 30, 2007, and has been climbing the charts ever since. With hits like “Inconsolable,” the boys have proven that comebacks can be a success!

McLean also revealed that he would be working on a solo album. Band-mate Howie Dorough told Billboard, “A.J.’s about done.”

With his busy schedule, A.J. McLean will certainly need to be stocking up on plenty of tea…

“Do the right thing and good things will follow,” says Cindi Bigelow, President. Bigelow Tea is proud to announce its support of National Wildlife Federation’s mission.

Bigelow ® Tea was started by my grandmother back in her kitchen over 60 years ago. Today it is still 100% family owned and operated. One thing that has never changed at Bigelow is the understanding of our corporate mission is more than just producing the finest tasting tea. It is also about caring for our employees and for the communities around us, both globally and locally.

I share a simple philosophy with all those around me… “Do the right thing and good things will follow”. And it doesn’t have to always be “big things” either. Yes, some of our programs are quite expansive, like our $1.5 million solar panel project recently installed on our rooftop, but many are individual in nature. For example, we now bring in our own tea mugs instead of using disposable cups each day in order to cut down on waste. Large or small, all of us at Bigelow believe that every step is important.

To that end Bigelow Tea is proud to announce our support of National Wildlife Federation’s mission. Bigelow recognizes the critical mission of this organization. The very significance of educating and inspiring Americans to connect with nature, combat global warming and protect and restore wildlife habitat cannot be overrated. It is through partnerships such as these that we will make this world a better place. Together… we can all make a difference.

Wishing you and your family much joy and warmth this holiday season,

Cynthia R. Bigelow. President

Join Bigelow Tea in protecting wildlife for our children’s future. For more on what else Bigelow Tea is doing to further conservation, check out our Environment News.

The University of Maryland Medical Center offers green tea as a possible remedy to alleviate the symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is an unpredictable disease of the nervous system, in which communication between the brain and other parts of the body is disrupted. Its effects can range from relatively mild, in most cases, to somewhat disabling to devastating. Amazingly, the symptoms can mysteriously occur and then disappear. Worst case, a person with MS may be unable to write, speak or walk. About 350,000 Americans have MS, with onset in most cases occurring between 20–45 years of age.

MS is accompanied by the following signs and symptoms:

• Weakness in motor skills and loss of muscle coordination
• Tingling, numbness, dizziness
• Blurred vision
• Pain
• Heat sensitivity
• Loss of bladder control
• Memory loss, problem-solving difficulties
• Mood disturbances

Among a few suggested natural remedies, Green Tea makes the list.

Did you know George Washington was a tea fan? In fact, there is a tea book specifically written about Tea with Presidential Families. Be sure to make time for tea this Election Day!

Portrait by Gilbert Stuart. Photo Courtesy of Wikipedia

The country has spoken in one campaign already…
Bigelow Green Tea is a winner!

Maggie Grace, best known for her role as rich girl Shannon Rutherford on the television series Lost and for her part as Kim in the 2008 action film Taken, also starring Liam Neeson, Famke Janssen and Holly Valance, enjoys tea. While in London, Maggie Grace shares a companionable moment toe to toe with Blake Mycoskie, founder of TOMS Shoes. For more about Maggie Grace go here.

Photo courtesy of Daily Celebrity