In the early 20th century, an English physicist like Marsden organized his day around four meals: a hearty breakfast, a hot dinner at midday or in the evening, the indispensable afternoon tea (teapot and something sweet), and a light supper. Meals followed the rhythm of the laboratory: simple, regular, comforting. When Marsden settled in Wellington in 1915, this British framework took on the colonial New Zealand habits of the time.

In northern England, refinery molasses—thick, almost bitter—flavors cakes and biscuits, while the teapot of well-brewed black tea punctuates every hour of work. These two Lancashire markers followed Marsden to the other side of the world.