Just being ME




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15/03/2010


my photo

anyone for a cup of PG ...

More often than not I 'oom and aah' over making a purchase, but when I saw this set of miniature tins in TK Maxx for the bargain price of £3.49, I didn't hesitate.

Tiny containers of loose-leaf tea showing three Icons of England, a London bus, a postbox and a telephone box.

I most probably won't use the contents, as in our house it's teabags!



Back in the 1960s before Brooke Bond introduced bags, loose-leaf tea was all you could buy.

Mum was always into the latest trends and had one of those plastic wall-mounted tea dispensers, which gave a measure of tea for the pot.



Like many families growing up in the 1960s/70s, money was invariably in short supply. A few pennies could have been saved by buying a cheaper brand of tea, but Mum always bought PG Tips so we could have fun in collecting the cards. The suspense of finding which card was tucked down the side of the packet, and the disappointment when discovering you already had it!

I can't ever remember completing a set?


The Tipps!
o
A family of chimps who were made to dress up and drink tea. This long-running campaign of ads are some of the most popular of all time. If you click here it's guaranteed to put a smile on your face. A certain removal man, in the name of Mr Shifter!
o
o

15 comments:

periwinkle said...

I used to love those adverts , my parents were coffee drinkers so I never had the card excitemenI'm afraid :-)

Sal said...

My mum collected all the cards for us so that we could have the various albums. I loved them!
I must say that I used to love the smell of packet tea!
;-)

Simone said...

'You hum it son, I'll play it'!!! I remember those adverts as though they were on yesterday! My Mum always had loose leaf tea and I do remember the cards that used to come with the tea. I wish they still did them!x

karenshopes said...

Oh I remember collecting those cards too.
Karen

Charlotte said...

I have the two tins on the left and right; wouldn't mind having the one in the middle too! ;) I'll keep my eye out for it.

The old tea cards are great, I have a couple of sets purchased from e-bay; admittedly not as fun as collecting one at a time with your tea. Now, I can buy Red Rose Tea to get the figurines. I have a rather nice collection!

I wonder why it's TJ Maxx in the States & TK Maxx there? Weird.

Cheers!
lottie

LizzieJane said...

It was always P G Tips for us too. I remember the cards also. My sister and I used to argue about being the one to pull it out! Love those tins. Very British indeed!
x

Rosie said...

I love those little tins. I remember collecting the cards from tea packets, too. The chimps - I remember that one and the 'Avez-vous un cuppa' and 'can you ride tandem?' ones:)

life in red shoes said...

I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to resist these, forget about the tea.

I have a new favorite, A Moment Of Calm, from Twinings. It's a camomile with just a touch of honey and vanilla...very nice.
I can only find it at the London Market downtown. I don't mind, it gives me a good excuse to hear a great accent;)

The Vintage Kitten said...

Lovely tins! X

Ally Jay said...

I used to love the Chimp ads.

Anonymous said...

I agree the tins are lovely! Put the tea on your compost perhaps?

A Thrifty Mrs said...

Cute tins.
Do you know, I don't like tea at all but I think the history and traditions behind it are really interesting.

Sarah said...

Wow, that brings back memories - I used to love the chimp ads.
x

love those cupcakes said...

Oh, I remember those cards. My parents had a shop and for some reason we had loads of sets of cards (not sure why) which I loved sticking in albums.

Anonymous said...

a lovely post, brings back so many warm memories. my nan used to save her tea cards for me, wish i still had them.

warm wishes to you xxx

sumea