Tom, Tom the Tea Man

My Sam Smith's drink of choice is often a nice pint of their lovely Oatmeal Stout. However, I found out today that another Yorkshire Sam Smith helped found Ringtons Tea in 1907. This is a portrait then of the highly mobile, technologically switched-on, and very chatty little salesman from Rington's delivering their branded teas door to door. I asked his name, "just call me Tom the Tea Man" is all he said.

I was originally going to turn him down, but there was something charmingly old fashioned and eccentric about this operation. There was also a nice symmetry in the fact that I had been banging on about the Exchange Coffee House and colonial spice trades on Thursday.

I promised to buy on two conditions: first whatever he had to offer, had to match or better the quality of our usual artery-busting Twinings 1706 Strong Breakfast Tea; and second, he had to pose for my blip. Tom looked a little bemused, but agreed. Street photography with a difference, let's call it.

The UK Government has just announced it will ease restrictions on travelling vendors, including door to door salespersons. This is a bit worrying to our household as, living as we do on a main road, we do tend to get hounded by all sorts of hawkers, canvassers, religious 'missionaries' and 'chuggers'.

Whilst it seems a shame to be harsh on the more genuine callers, it can become very onerous and distracting to keep answering the door when you work from home. On a point of principle, I normally send all away with the same polite response given to telephone cold callers. I must however shamefully admit to sometimes telling the Jehovah's Witness's and Born Again Christian's I am a Muslim (although this is strictly-speaking correct), and which always seems to bemuse them long enough for me to escape.

Result today though, as we are now the proud owners of 80 tea bags of Ringtons Connoisseur blend (half price at £1.42 as opposed to Twinings 1706 at £4.50).