Who sang the original "Tea for Two"?

Question

I'm not sure, but I think it goes as far back as the pre-1920s.

Answer 1

It actually came from a musical called "No No, Nanette", and was written in 1925.
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No, No, Nanette is an English musical comedy first produced on March 11, 1925 at the Palace Theatre in London, running for 665 performances, and starring Binnie Hale and George Grossmith, Jr. It then ran for 321 performances on Broadway, opening on September 16, 1925, produced by Harry Frazee, a former owner of the Boston Red Sox. In the lore of the Curse of the Bambino, Frazee is said to have financed the production by selling baseball superstar Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees, though the sale had occurred five years earlier.

The lyrics are by Irving Caesar and Otto Harbach, with music by Vincent Youmans. The songs include the well-known "Tea for Two" and "I Want to Be Happy".

No, No, Nanette was made into musical films in both 1930 and in 1940, with both film adaptations featuring actress ZaSu Pitts. In 1950, a film entitled Tea for Two, about an acting troupe mounting a production of No, No, Nanette, was released. It starred Doris Day, Gordon MacRae, Eve Arden, and Billy De Wolfe.

There was a notable revival on Broadway in 1971, with a book adapted by Burt Shevelove, starring Ruby Keeler, Helen Gallagher, Jack Gilford, Patsy Kelly, and Bobby Van. The production was supervised by aging Hollywood legend Busby Berkeley, although it was rumored that his name was his primary contribution to the show. At each performance, Keeler - who had been lured out of retirement - brought down the house with an energetic tap routine incorporated into the "I Want to Be Happy" sequence. The show opened to universally ecstatic reviews, and became the "hottest" ticket on Broadway for months.