I remember when I was young, whenever we moved house, the old humble tea chest was a staple used by removal companies. It’s not hard to see why, stronger than a cardboard box yet nearly as light, easy to stack, and incredibly durable. Of course, once a tea chest had its tea removed, it no longer had a lid. But that made it fantastic for packing, as it could hold an enormous amount of weight and still stack fine. A week later, the removal company would return, pick them up, and reuse them—rinse and repeat.
These days, we sometimes send out up to 50 parcels a week, and for larger items, we buy boxes from a couple of removal companies that recycle them after customers are finished. They’re not as good as the old tea chests, but they flat-pack, making them brilliant for moving purposes.
During the 1980s and 1990s, as tea chests were gradually replaced by cardboard boxes, they would often turn up in job lots at auction—typically used for holding pictures and other large household goods. Clearance firms would find them stored in garages, left behind after removals.
But now, it seems they are making a comeback in a new form. While out buying the other week, I came across two of these humble tea chests. Someone had sanded the sides and polished them, and they looked fantastic. They still bore the original transportation details and product markings, which added real character. The metal trims had been cleaned up with wire wool and left gleaming like silver. One had even been painted inside, showing signs of use as a quirky indoor planter, while the other had been turned upside down and repurposed as a side table.
These days, you often see French wine boxes at antique fairs, and people love them. But tea chests are actually far more interesting. The wine boxes aren’t that old, whereas many tea chests date back to the 1950s—though the ones I bought were stamped 1979.
One of them sold within a week for £180. Seems crazy, doesn’t it? But they look absolutely fantastic, and it’s a testament to how throwaway items can gain value with age. Meanwhile, we’re in an era where beautiful dark wood Victorian furniture—once incredibly expensive—is now ending up in landfill because even auction houses won’t accept it. Nobody wants it anymore. And yet, the humble tea chest, made from low-grade ply and thin metal, is on the rise.
You can almost picture a no-nonsense housekeeper in a grand home as a family moves in—scolding the removal men for not being careful with the mahogany sideboard while casually tossing the tea chests full of pots and pans into the scullery, before chucking them on a bonfire in the back garden. Maybe it’s a sign of our modern disposable culture, where so much furniture is so poorly made it barely lasts five minutes, that the humble tea chest is now seen as a worthwhile acquisition, offering far more longevity and charm.
The Rights of Fans. 