Entrepreneur Robert Crawford Johnson discovered how to avoid spilling your tea while on board ship – he invented a square teapot that would not tip over!
For years designers had wracked their brains to create the ideal teapot for sea travel. What was needed was one that didn’t drip, would not overturn in rough weather and could be easily stored without chipping the spout. Rather than change the whole teapot design, other designers concentrated on one of these "defects" in their endeavours. By creating a square teapot with the spout neatly tucked away in a corner, Johnson solved all the problems at once.
He registered his Cube Teapot in 1917 but it was not put into production until 1920. Some other companies decided to muscle-in on Johnson’s brainchild by producing similar pots which were not under licence. Johnson hit back by forming Cube Teapots Ltd in 1925 under an "Accept No Imitations" marketing banner. Sales stunts included a “living window display” featuring a lady pouring the perfect cup of tea from a Cube Teapot.
Square teapots were adopted by major shipping companies such as Cunard. There are several featured in displays at Merseyside Maritime Museum – they were used on the Queen Mary and earlier Cunard ships.
Click here for some more really interesting information about the cube teapot.
6 comments:
That's very similar to the teapot that came with my Goblin's Teasmade (or was it Teasmaid?) when I was a student, some... er... twenty or so, years ago.
Very clever, I never knew this!! Interesting trivia (which I am always a sucker for).
A very clever idea and cute too.
What a neat idea
Awesome. The tea is secure in rough weather, just like its drinkers.
Thanks for this great bit of historical info! I've seen a couple of cube teapots but never knew the lore behind them!
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