Thomas Sullivan actually invented tea bags by mistake. In 1908, he was a tea merchant in New York city and looking for an easy way to send tea samples to his customers.He found that it was more convenient to send the samples in small silken bags rather than boxes. Some of his customers assumed these bags should be used like an infuser and put them right in their cup.
These customers told Sullivan that the silk was too fine so he developed bags made out of a gauze material.
Tea bags Commercial production was started in the 1920s.
