100 years ago the world like today was emerging from a pandemic. It was worse then than today as the Spanish Flu took the lives of 50 million people. In those days life expectancy for men was on average 53.6 years and the 1920’s ushered in a life of abundance.
Henry Ford created a Mass Assembly Plant for the manufacture of Motor Cars, Model T, and 100 years on the coincidence of pandemic and Elon Musk makes one stop to think if History is repeating itself. Are we on the verge of a new era of abundance or are we heading a repeat of that great Crash on the Financial Markets of 1929 when the Walls of Wall Street crumbled.
Despite the oncoming of abundant celebration the 18th Amendment to the United States Constitution came into effect as the production and consumption of alcohol was outlawed. Unfortunately prohibition led to black market crime as the bootleggers flourished under the Prohibition.
However all was not lost as it was in 1920 that the tea bag came fully into commercial life and though the alcohol was gone tea would now take the strain albeit through the bag. Tea of course is a more sober drink than Alcohol and I recall when the great India Conglomerate TATA bought Tetley teas in 2000 for £271m, it was the biggest acquisition in Indian Corporate History. I remember being in the company of the TATA Director at the time of acquisition when I told him why I thought it was a fantastic buy. He enquired why and I then pointed out to him that every time we have a problem in Britain we put the kettle on to make tea and in Britain we have a lot of problems.
As I write I remember my very old and good friend Mark Sidney Gross who told horror stories over the Night Radio in New York in the late 1920’s. Mark later appeared in the movie Dr Strangelove and over tea one day I entered his kitchen to see tea bags with pegs drying on his washing line. Unbeknown to me his great frugal approach to life meant he dried and reused tea bags. I recall passing on the tea that day but his stories of old America were always so interesting. 1920 was clearly a time of change in the United States where women won the right to vote and the Human Fly, George Polley began to climb the New York Skyscrapers that were emerging to house the new era.
Ironically we are in a new era post pandemic where with bars, pubs and hotels shut alcohol is scarce and we come out of pandemic. We are still squeezing those tea bags 100 years on for as I say we still have problems. The cars to come off production soon will be Electric Vehicles of course and no doubt in less than 100 years we will be no longer driving but still drinking those tea bags after our driverless vehicle rides. Coincidentally latest statistics point that one third of people are drinking less alcohol in the recent lockdown and that the great thirst of the young is no and low alcohol drinks. ( plus tea of course ! Does History repeat itself ? Is there nothing new under the sun ? Or are tea bags with us forever ?
qbitblogger 