Peter Durand, a British merchant, received the first patent for the idea of preserving food using tin cans. The patent was granted on 25th August 1810 by King George III of England.
Since this time tins have been used in a wide range of food, drinks and chemist products for preservation. Tins also became a great way to store small hardware products too.
Companies would use all different shapes and sizes of tins depending on what the product was being stored. These would be detailed with the companies name, relevant information on the product and most tins were highly decorated.
Today companies use alternative storage and preservation containers such as plastic/cardboard. Tins have become a collectors item and it is easy to see why. With their multifunction use, long lasting material and nostalgia of the past they are truly a thing of beauty.
Here at Wildcard we love to have a selection of tins in stock and would love to share with you a little history on some of these tins.
Oxo Tins
These tins are very popular amongst collectors. For the new tin collector they are easy to find as so many were produced. However some of the rarer designs are more sought after.
For more information on OXO history please see the link below.
Peek Frean’s Biscuit Tins
Registered in 1857 as Peek, Frean & Co. Ltd, they were based in a disused sugar refinery on Mill Street in Dockhead, South East London.
The business quickly expanded in 1860. Peek engaged his friend James Carr, the apprenticed son of the Carlisle-based Scottish milling and biscuit making family, Carr’s.
The company was broken apart from 1982, after Nabisco bought ABM.
Antiseptic Throat Pastilles
TCP was introduced in 1918. The brand name comes from its original chemical name, which was trichlorophenylmethyliodosalicyl.
Gee’s Linctus Pastilles (Boots Company PLC), the tin states it is dangerous to exceed the stated dose. One of the ingredients in these pastilles was opium.
Lyons Tin
J. Lyons & Co. were best known for their chain of tea shops which opened from 1894 and finally closed in 1981. From the 1930s Lyons began to develop a pioneering range of teas, biscuits and cakes that were sold in grocery stores across the world.
Hardware Tins
An example of tins being used for hardware is Elkah Gramophone Needles. This old tin held steel phonograph needles used to play 78 records.
Please visit the shop on this very website to check out our latest fantastic items for sale.
We love history and enjoy keeping the memories and nostalgia alive. We love anything curios or unusual, alongside more mainstream antiques, vintage and retro.