Tea was one of the first goods to be packaged in metal containers. Early import/export companies shipped it in metal-lined wooden crates. Pewter (widely used in England) was used one of the earliest metals used to fashion oriental style tea containers. Tin plated iron was made into tea canisters as early as 1790, often hand painted with places of the tea's origin. This tin has been adapted for use as a money box.In the mid-nineteenth century custom branded tins developed as a tasteful form of advertising. They were often cheap and decorative and found their way into households as gifts, often being kept as ornaments and storage boxes.They have survived well in many homes. A cylindrical metal Lipton's tin. The lid has a slot cut into it. The front panel has "LIPTON'S" above a red drawing of a tea factory and plantation with" TEA" below it. The print is white. There are panels framed in bamboo around the tin."Lipton tea, coffee and cocoa planter: Tea merchant by special appointment to his majesty King George V"tea-caddy lipton's container

The British Empire Exhibition was opened by King George V on St George's Day, 23 April, 1924. Its official aim was "to stimulate trade, strengthen bonds that bind mother Country to her Sister States and Daughters, to bring into closer contact the one with each other, to enable all who owe allegiance to the British flag to meet on common ground and learn to know each other". The Exhibition was also the first occasion for which the British Post Office issued commemorative postage stamps Many souvenirs were made to commemorate the exhibition. This tea caddy, produced by Lipton's, includes the exhibition's official mark of the stylised lion designed by F. C. Herrick.This item is a souvenir of a historic event which took place in the first half of the 20th century.A Lipton's souvenir brass tea caddy from the British Empire Exhibition of 1924. The lid fits on to form a sphere. It has a knob on the top"Lipton" on bottom. "Lipton's souvenir tea caddy British Empire Exhibition 1924" on top. A lion on the side.souvenir container tea-caddy lipton-thomas british-empire-exhibition