What's a "Tea basin"?

[Viktoria]

Many workmen had enamel tea mugs,now they get very  hot .
They chip easily but that was no matter.
A hole in the road provided us with interest for a few weeks,burning brazier,
nice  little shelter for the night watchman,big black ( very black) kettle always singing softly.
Enamel or tin mugs lined up .
Tin of condensed milk helping the flies to survive.

Can you imagine that nowadays?
He would be mugged!
Tea does stay hot in enamel mugs though and a dish of tea being relatively shallow cools quickly and tepid tea! Ugh.
Viktoria.

[Ruskie]

Also a bit off topic,there was a street not far from our home in Manchester where very poor people lived .
I have related this story but it was why we went to the house.
One of our little friends from that street had drowned in the canal and was awaiting burial.
He was in his coffin in the living room  of a two up two down terrace house.
We his playmates ,used to go to see him,and the family would be having a meal and   them  using jam jars as cups.
My mother was aghast,I got into trouble for being such a little ghoul and very impolite into the bargain.
Imagine hot tea in a glass receptacle,not heatproof glass either.
A frequent saying near the pub was” are you coming in for a jar?”
Viktoria.

They were ahead of their time Viktoria:
https://www.waresofknutsford.co.uk/jars/drinking-jars-and-dispensers/

That kind of thing is trendy now, or at least it was a couple of years ago. Possibly not any more. 

[hanes teulu]

The Tatler, 10 Jan 1914
Thoughts from "The Ways of Society"

"We never speak of slop basin nowadays, we always call it a tea basin, and we never call a table napkin a serviette"

[Skoosh]

Igor, that's exactly how I make tea, your faither was right! certainly not this palaver of an earthenware pot & a tea-cosy, though nowadays it's a teabag in a mug if you're lucky.
 Anent the blending business, it's just the kind of nonsense repeated ad-nauseum by the so-called experts on the Antiques Road Show where TV personality Fiona Bruce is consulted on everything from Rembrandt to Ronson Lighters.
 Tea becoming much cheaper saw it drank by everybody & in big hooses was consigned to the pantry, not kept under lock & key in the drawing-room away from light-fingered servants! Future generations of toffs knew this ceremony not!
Our own staff were always very honest 

Skoosh.
 

[Viktoria]

Ours too Skoosh.
We were also very posh as Mum would not have a mug in the house( if you dis- count me!)
Cups and saucers and each one with a tea spoon.
Visited someone once and they had big mugs and a communal teaspoon and
 not even one dedicated to the sugar bowl.
Whew Mum was in hypercritical mode the minute we left their house!
Mum used to buy what were known as ‘ Half Tea Sets.”
In other words six cups ,saucers and tea plates.
Previously twelve of everything was the norm.
All in thin plain white china,so everything matched  whenever they were bought .
.Tea in a China cup is nice.
This tea basin reminds me of articles on the old antiques programmes.
People took them in and said they wondered how old the gravy boat they used ,was?
Well it transpired the gravy boat was in fact a sort of potty for ladies wearing great hooped pannier skirts and they could withdraw behind a screen in the dining room during banquets and answer the call of nature!
The faces!of those people on the Antiques Roadshow. >
I will leave you on that decidedly low note .
Viktoria.

[Skoosh]

@ Viktoria, always a delight! 

Skoosh.

PS, the Chinese supermarket sells Oolong tea in boxes, which is superb, big leaves, what used to be called floor-sweepings is now used in tea-bags!

[Viktoria]

On one trip to What then was Ceylon,my O H brought back a small ,foil lined crate/box about 10 inches square.
Full of Broken Orange Pekoe tea.
Why Ceylon with a name which sounds Chinese?
Oh it was lovely,such big leaves and delicate flavour.
Can’t get it now.
I like LapsangSouchong,especially with kippers,but we won’t go down that route,

Rose Pouchong,scented.
And Earl Grey.
Tea is a nice addition to some currant loaf recipes  Barm brack and Bara Brith.
Pears poached in Earl Grey are lovely.
When you see some really old tea sets the saucers are deep ,as if meant to be sipped from.
I am off to make a cuppa now before the second appointment of the day at the Dentist.

Viktoria.