1975: One LONG TEA BREAK in LONDON | Nationwide | Weird and Wonderful | BBC Archive

Imagine a job that's one long tea break! Nationwide’s Patrick Stenson hopes to go from tea drinker to tea taster, with tea sommelier Brian Evison all set to put the rookie through the paces.
This clip taken is taken from Nationwide, originally broadcast on BBC One, Monday 3 February 1975.
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[@jeffreynolds3848]

The spittoons used by Ridgeways London and seen in this film were made by Garrods of Barking, in east London. Using a unique combination of standard dustbin components, the body was made in the smallest diameter of 14” (35cm), normally used for the smallest ‘ash can’ (cinders), but at the tallest height of 30” (75cm) - the maximum of the longest ‘corrugator’, normally used for the largest 18” x 30” (45cm dia x 75cm high, 120 litre) dustbin - currently used on the London West End stage by STOMP...! Modifications included, handmade and soldered copper ‘cone’ to catch the ‘spit’ and soldered copper liner to contain the ‘spit’. The spittoon was made stable by mounting the 4 castors on legs made from half a mop-bucket cone welded upside-down on the side of the spittoon at the bottom. Garrods 18” and 16” dustbin lids were corrugated but the 14” lids were plain. Even though the plain 14” lid supplied with the Ridgeway spittoon was quite shallow, the slim, tall, corrugated body with sloping castor ‘wings’ at the base gave the overall appearance of a small space rocket...!

[@stephenspence1192]

An excellent posting on the art of spitoonology!

[@jeffreynolds3848]

@@stephenspence1192 - not really; it just tickled me to see our Garrods version of the much-used tea-taster spittoon used over the centuries in London previously. I got involved with Garrods in the early ‘90’s; my predecessor and previous owner of Garrods told me that a supplier to the London tea trade approached Garrods for a low-cost version of the 18th/19th century all-copper-and-brass handmade design only available to the trade in the 20th century. He and Garrods dustbin makers used as many standard, mass-produced components and as little craft specialisation as possible - basically a new recipe from our old ingredients. The supplier accepted our sample without changes and off we went...!

[@stephenspence1192]

@@jeffreynolds3848 Interesting. Spittoons were quite common in Public Houses back in the past so I believe.

[@jeffreynolds3848]

@@stephenspence1192 - ...and so were the jokes about them, too...

[@stephenspence1192]

@@jeffreynolds3848 I bet.

[@ericsynchrona5495]

This truly takes a long time, because to every food there is a taste and an after-taste, which literally takes a lot of time to do altogether.

[@RubesGoodBrainCoffee]

Reminds me very much of what we actually do in the coffee business when tasting -- or 'cupping,' as we call it -- coffee. The attention to detail concerning the quality of the water, the weighing of the beans, and even having a good 'slurp' to aerate the liquor so that it evenly covers one's palate -- these things are all the same.

[@wildwine6400]

6:22 lol at that trophy. A tinfoil trophy on an old tobacco tin 🙃

[@HomerSparkle]

This wins the prize for the most British thing ever!

[@TheFlixFiles]

As long as it's wet n' warm...

[@Firkinnel]

Bailed after the 1st slurp !

[@janruudschutrups9382]

1:20 A tea leaf I imagine.

[@animatewithdermot]

0.22 nice to see a young Emo Philips get his start.

[@kpb96m]

0:22 You're welcome

[@HughTVDX]

The curly haired bloke reminds me of Alan Sugar. Amstrad Tea!

[@SharonMcwilliams78]

This guy the taste tester must have ( of ) been the inspiration for Frank Spencer …😂❤

[@stephengraham5099]

Must have please, not must of.😇

[@SharonMcwilliams78]

@@stephengraham5099 I am 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿( I’m ) Scottish we say it differently. 😂😂🤲🏻😬

[@stephengraham5099]

You say it differently. 😊@@SharonMcwilliams78

[@buxvan]

I thought he was Fred West, the murderer!

[@SharonMcwilliams78]

@@buxvan 🤔😂🙏🏻

[@omarnour348]

Steve Coogan/ In 1989, no-one died /Steve Coogan

[@LPBineli]

Brazil 🇧🇷 ❤

[@CIAUSCOLOMAN]

???

[@phillgreenland2390]

Weird.

[@EdDunkle]

How does water get "over boiled"?

[@phillgreenland2390]

Over-aerated.

[@madamesalamander16]

Over-aerated as @phillgreenland2390 said, and it can bring out the taste of minerals in the water. I didn't know that until I had a chance to visit the UK. America will complain loudly about bad coffee, but we suffer silently through a disappointing cup of tea.

[@johnking5174]

If this was from 1975, why is it in black and white? BBC One was surely in full colour service by 1975.

[@CaroL-nf5rs]

The clothing is from 1970s. Sometimes black & white is made by choice

[@johnking5174]

@@CaroL-nf5rs But it is weird that Nationwide went full colour service in 1972. By 1975 everything on BBC 1 was made and transmitted in colour apart from some schools programmes. So, I have a feeling this is a film copy of the original which must have been wiped.

[@phillgreenland2390]

Good question. Makes me wonder about the fact that although colour had come in fully, black and white televisions were still made and sold into the 1980s. In my house, the "big" front room console TV was color, but the two smaller TVs were black and white. Many households were black and white only, I'm sure. Could also be a cheaper archive film transfer. Makes me wonder if on different broadcast platforms you would end up with prominent presenter/directors demanding, "I prefer black and white." Or a line producer saying, "Colour is so expensive. It's news, it's not a splashy feature."

[@johnking5174]

@@phillgreenland2390 Well it is strange, as Nationwide was one of the last networked news shows to go in colour until 1972 - but three years later to have a black and white produced report is strange. BBC policy was for every BBC programme to be in colour by 1973 (excluding schools and adult education). I feel this is a copy of the report, except it was a black and white copy.

[@phillgreenland2390]

@@johnking5174 Yes, a cheap archive transfer.

[@harryjones5260]

how advice out-dates......we now know boiling water in copper vessels toxifies it, terrible price that man who thought he knew it all was unknowingly paying

[@Westeross]

🇬🇧👍🏻🇦🇺

[@zulfiqarali9808]

What a boring job! Thanks God I love tea all types and not looking for any fine undefinable differences

[@dean6816]

Black and white in 1975?? C'mon!!!

[@davedogge2280]

2:32 this is an April Fools or the guy is a charlatan, a tea taster will know the difference 'an over boiled kettle'. So when it gets to 100 degrees Celsius the boiling kettle water is ruined ??!?.

[@phillgreenland2390]

Over-aerated if if boils too long past the boiling point. It does indeed taste different.

[@OlafProt]

🇪🇺

[@robinvanags912]

Brews & current affairs on Nationwide.

[@DJ_NEUROSTORM]

1975? why B&W? more like 1957 maybe

[@phillgreenland2390]

Clothing is 1970s. Maybe a cheap film transfer archive copy or a recording on disparate equipment.