Recently read a post here about Leslie helping pack MB’s tea chests. I had no idea that they did in fact exist and were not more RB fantasy! Was it usual at the time to pack for a big move or storage in tea chests?
Yes in the 90s people used tea chests, as they are called, for home removals, storage, international freight / overseas shipping and they are still sold online for the same purpose. I think they are perceived as being more sturdy than a cardboard box, less easily broken into, and also conform to some type of known size standard for the purposes of shipping.
I guess if Marion believed she was going travelling for a year and then purchasing a house either in Australia or relocating overseas, either way she might have logically decided on using tea chests?