Our First Home: Where Bigelow Tea Was Born. Sometime in 1942 or '43, my mom and dad decided they wanted to start a tea business. At the time, we lived in a small apartment in Manhattan. They felt strongly that, for the company to be a success, they needed a home where they could begin. Searching the local streets, they found a brownstone, just off Second Avenue, which was in terrible disrepair. Optimistic, they bought it with the last of their life savings, and replastered and repainted it themselves. It was in this home in 1945, where my mom and dad opened the doors to the new Bigelow Tea Company. Little could they have imagined that their dream would one day grow to be America's #1 Specialty Tea company! David Bigelow.