Can Our British Friends Help?

[danemodsandy]

Greetings from across the pond -

Can anyone offer suggestions to a Yank who loves tea? I am in need of a tea caddy, and by tea caddy, I do not mean those horrible new compartmented boxes intended to permit filing-away of tea bags. I have nothing against filing tea bags away, mind you - it seems a much better use for tea bags than drinking tea made from them.

Loose tea is what I like, and that means a proper tea caddy. I presently have one of the "bottle" type, made of china. I detest it, because it does not permit use of a tea caddy spoon.

I like the wooden type resembling a very small chest, but all I find online are antique ones costing the Earth.

Does anyone know of a source for a wooden one fitted with a small lock, at something resembling a reasonable cost? In America, Colonial Williamsburg reproduces an antique one, but it's $100 plus shipping.

I don't care much what it looks like, as long as it's simple and sober in design. And I am keen on a wooden one.

I am not looking for those 1950's barrel-shaped ones, nor tin souvenir ones with Coronation or Festival of Britain or Royal wedding designs, nor those brass ones from the 1924 British Empire Exhibition given away by Lipton's.

A photo of the Williamsburg one is below, so that everyone can see the sort of thing I have in mind. But again, something simpler would be just fine. The one pictured is smallish, only five inches high by a bit over six inches around. This one holds only one kind of tea - it doesn't have two compartments. This is perfect for me, because my tea of choice is Earl Grey (British loose Twining's, not the American teabagged horror).

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

Yours for a proper cuppa -

Sandy

 

[danemodsandy]

Mrs. Miniver....

....Had a nice one, not too large, very simple.

But of course, everything Mrs. Miniver had was perfect. We could all be that perfect if we had Hollywood doing our kitchens, right?

 

[frigilux]

I'm afraid the Brits are still a bit peeved with us over that party we threw in Boston a couple of hundred years ago. My cousins in Wolverhampton don't even send Christmas cards, anymore.

 

[rolls_rapide]

I cannot say that I have seen any wooden casket type tea caddies, other than antique ones on the BBC's "Antique Roadshow".

Any I have seen, tend to be modern tin ones.

 

[davetranter]

I'm not a tea-drinker, but.....

I'll keep a lookout in local 'thrift' (as opposed to 'antique') shops.... If I see anything suitable for a reasonable price, I'll get it.......

We'll have to sort out shipping after the event.......

All best

Dave T

 

[foraloysius]

Here's one from an American company:

https://www.etsy.com/nl/listing/130201769/wooden-tea-box-cherry-wood-organic-loose?ref=market

 

[danemodsandy]

Thanks for the Help and Suggestions:

Dave:

If you find one, I'd love to hear about it, but dispatching it from the U.K. would be pretty expensive. There's a rather nice Regency one in need of restoration on Etsy, and it's reasonably priced. But the seller is in the U.K., so post is about $30 USD, something like £20.

I've been looking at all sorts of boxes, seeing if I could find something that could be fitted with a lock and lined with tea paper, but I'm finding that by the time I bought everything needed, I'd be close to what the Williamsburg one costs.

So, I'm still looking. Hopefully good luck will come through for me at some point. In the meantime, I do have the china one, which will do even if it's not a pleasure to use.

I also found the caddy in the photo below; it's hand-carved mahogany from a company called Traditional Enterprises LLC. The page says to inquire about the price, which means I don't even dare ask what it costs, LOL. It's also much too grand for the rest of the tea things, which are pewter.

 

[ovrphil]

I love

the wooden caddy - I found something at the thrift exactly as shown, but just like new, no scratches, from Williamsburg including information tag. Someone had their initials(2 of 3 like our own) carved into the heart. I'm not sure it's for tea, per se, but probably...I like a lot of the Willaimsburg era stuff. (furniture, accessories, landscaping and architecture).

Hope you find what you need/want, Sandy!

 

[fido]

I would have thought either a jewellery box or a faulty musical box could be bought quite cheaply and adapted.

 

[danemodsandy]

Aiiiiiiiiiiiii!

Phil ovrphil:

OY, do I wish I could find one of those in a thrift! Since it's pewter, it's a perfect match to the rest of the tea things. I can't say I'm crazy about the heart, but it's overall a very nice design.

New, it's a different proposition - it's as much as the wooden Williamsburg tea caddy shown above. And it has only been made in pewter for the past little while - it was made in silverplate for a long time.

Phil fido:

If there is a suitable jewelry or music box out there, I'd love to find it, but so far, no luck. I have looked.

 

[ovrphil]

LOL! Sandy - Yeah, I got VERY lucky that one day - last year - with that near-mint Williamsburg wedding gift someone discarded. It must have been a divorce....and they tossed it out to flush the rest of the memories? Who knows?

I'll keep an eye out, but something tells me that if you, I or anyone finds the elusive tea caddy that comes close to any of the three pictured, including mine, it would probably show up (as you might guess) more than likely in an estate sale. I've been searching for Dazey can openers, now and then, so I can do the same for Tea Caddy...and pm you.

Phil

 

[hoover1100]

To be quite honest

Probably about 99% of British households today use nothing but tea bags.

Most either do not own a tea pot at all or never use it.

Most people brew their tea by steeping the tea bag in the mug and keep their tea bags in a plastic, metal or china jar (That is when they are not simply left in the box they were purchased in!)

So most people probably haven't even heard of a tea caddy, let alone own one!

Me? I drink coffee, but the idea of loose tea brewed in a tea pot is rather plesant.

Matt

 

[danemodsandy]

Matt:

Being American, my morning brew is coffee, always coffee. I do sometimes like builder's tea in a mug as I do house-work at home. And I have not entertained at tea-time in a few years since moving to Iowa.

Tea - real tea - is for afternoons when I have time to relax, or if I want to have civilized friends in. It's only for times when there is time.

There's nothing more pleasant than a real tea-time in the Winter, with biscuits (cookies in Yankspeak), little sandwiches of some sort, and hot muffins or something similar.

I do not get to do it often, and I haven't been able to do it in a while, but I am determined to restore tea-time to my entertaining.

 

[tomturbomatic]

Reminds me of the gracious entertaining of Mrs. E. Worthington Twirthington. Weekend mornings and other days off I brew a big mug of tea and enjoy it. I have lots of tea pots, but hardly ever use them because one mug is enough.

 

[danemodsandy]

Ahem!

"Reminds me of the gracious entertaining of Mrs. E. Worthington Twirthington."

My liking for tea and tea-time has nothing to do with that kind of thing.

As someone who has been in recovery for nearly 25 years, my options for entertaining are limited somewhat by the fact that alcohol isn't part of my life. It's not like I'm going to throw a cocktail party, mmkay?

Tea is a perfect alternative, so long as people are willing to enter into the spirit of things. Not everyone is. But it has nothing to do with being grand or pretending that I am. The members here who have met me in person can attest that I'm hardly that, LOL.

I cheerfully admit that it does also have something to do with stepping back in time a bit, but I think we've all been bitten by that bug here.

 

[iej]

From an Irish perspective, yeah I would 100% agree there is really very little use of tea caddies or tea chests in most households.

The vast majority of tea is made with teabags and has been for decades. We just have a big porcelain jar with a cork stopper to keep them fresh. Most people probably just keep them in the original box that they came in though.

Loose tea is really quite an obscure speciality these days and when it's made it can be done in all sorts of fancy traditional teapots or even these days in plunger pots and various other contraptions.

Herbal tea's probably actually a bigger deal outside the UK and Ireland than in it. People do drink herbal tea and it's increasingly widely available, but it's absolutely not the staple. A 'cuppa' = strong black tea with a splash milk and people tend to be VERY loyal to particular brands and blends.

 

[circlew]

Tea to me is sweet iced tea, and I probably drink at least 2 gallons a week, between what I make at home, and what I drink at either McAlister's Deli or Cracker Barrel. I rarely drink hot tea, usually only if I'm sick in the winter.

 

[revvinkevin]

Pewter tea caddy

 

 

Hey Sandy, I imagine this wouldn't work for you for a few reasons, but what about something like this?  

 

It's Royal Selangor Pewter and made in Malaysia, I know because that's where I bought it.

 

The cap is machined to such a close tolerance, that it takes about 4 seconds to remove or replace it, yet there is no gasket or other type of seal.

 

This is a photo from the website, but I'll post photos and actual dimensions after I get home if anyone is interested.

 

Kevin

 

[danemodsandy]

Hi Kevin!

I've had a Royal Selangor one, a number of years ago. Absolutely phenomenal quality!

However, that's the "bottle" type of caddy I'm not so crazy about, because the chest type is far easier to spoon tea from.

The RS one I had eventually got put on eBay, where it fetched a rather handsome little sum.