Shipping tea and recollections.

Ever since I can remember, around our house we had “Tea-Chests” and a large "Tea-Hamper” The Chests/ were of type of plywood, corners reinforced with metal strapping, the lid covered the sides and locked down with metal tabs. Much like these:......Hand truckmen moving tea chests from a shed to a barge at Tilbury. The tea was from the Malabar Coast and had been shipped to the Clan Line Quay at Tilbury. When the barge was full it would have been taken up river to one of the bonded warehouses in London.
These: to ship bulk Indian tea to the UK. Looks like the Stevedores have some "spillage" the spoils of the job.
Unloading tea chests from the hold of the Victory ship 'Talthybius' at Tilbury in February 1971. The Victory ships were built quickly and cheaply in the U.S.A. as replacements for the enormous losses suffered in the Atlantic during World War 2, and were simple and basic ships. The 'Talthybius' was completed as the 'Salina Victory' and then sailed as 'Polydorus'. She transferred to the British flag in 1960.
Discharging Chittagong tea...............
............from the 'Clan Munroe' (1918) at the Clan Line Quay at Tilbury. A large proportion of the tea arriving in the port was transhipped by lighters to private riverside wharfs such as Butler's Wharf. Chittagong today is the sole auction centre for Bangladesh's tightly regulated tea trade.

The wicker hamper- was heavy duty and also served as bulk tea container. The inside was lined with a fabric of sorts. It was about 2 ft X 2 ft X 5 ft long. We used them for storage and when moving around the country. The shipping containers came from my Dad’s company, Baileys; Wine Merchants and Licensed Grocers (pre-Tesco).
Reading some history books I came across this picture and memories were triggered.
Tea Shipping Chest.
Printed Top Left:
Eight, 中Zhong “Center/Middle” arranged around 茶 Cha "Tea".
We see this today on many Pu-erh tea wrappers: 八中茶 ba zhong cha
Date: 1957
Stenciled in the middle with actual contents.
Indicating a generic company container, might even have a re-use value?
This one is:
China Flower Tea: 中國花茶
Printed at the bottom:
China Tea Leaf Export Company: 中國 茶叶出口公司