Show us your Tobacco Tins!

[ChrisWiduWood]

Im sat at home waiting for a repair man to arraive so i thought id start a thread to pay homage to the good old Tobacco tin and what you might store in them. In a world of throw away plastic crap these tins have more than earned the cost of production and whatever impact they may have had on the planet!

Feel free to show us your Tins!

These two I've had since i started my apprenticeship in 96, i didn't smoke these were given to me by another carpenter on site.


The yellow one is Erinmore flake and contains all those free Allen keys you get sent with ironmongary etc,

The blue one I'm not sure about. The writing on the side says 'Fixes approx 100 screws of various sizes' so prob not a tobacco tin at all! and contains random bits that haven't seen the light of day for a while

 

[Adam W.]

Here's my tin........

This was given to me a couple of years back by a joiner in Lambeth SW19

Apparently it belonged to his great grandfather who worked as a joiner in Westminster.

The profiled scrapers are made of saw-plate from a saw maker or tool merchant at 93 Hackney Road, Shoreditch, in the East end of London

The punches on the right are mine, but all the other stuff was in the tin.

Quite a nice gift I might add

 

[ChrisWiduWood]

Here's my tin........



This was given to me a couple of years back by a joiner in Lambeth SW19

Apparently it belonged to his great grandfather who worked as a joiner in Westminster.



The profiled scrapers are made of saw-plate from a saw maker or tool merchant at 93 Hackney Road, Shoreditch, in the East end of London




The punches on the right are mine, but all the other stuff was in the tin.

Quite a nice gift I might add

Brilliant! thanks for sharing!

 

[XTiffy]

What about those OXO tins that held OXO cubes, I used to ask the butchers for empties for my Dad (a carpenter) in the early 1950s. I have several old tobaco tins, must go and photograph them. I too have long used old large bandsaw blades to make scrapers and moulding cutters.

 

[pe2dave]

Old Holborn and Golden Virginia... stacks of 'em.
(bought at sea when tobacco was "£1 per pound")

 

[flying haggis]

I use ice 2L ice cream containers, but that means I end up storing more crap, sorry "useful one day" stuff...........

 

[johnnyb]

In another life I worked on the guys house( at the beautifully named swadlincote) who owned fobco( the drill company) Mr obrien. His garage was floor to ceiling with bearing boxes that were storing stuff! Literally thousands.

 

[MorrisWoodman12]

Bl@@dy amateurs!
There's forty odd tins in the first image held neatly in an old wooden ammo box. That's about 2/3 of my current holding and I've given probably twenty away. My father smoked Golden Virginia but there's a smattering of Old Holborn and a couple of Three Nuns (though what the connection is between the Nuns and pipe tobacco beats me ).

@ChrisWiduWood I suspect your tin that fixes 100 screws is probably the dreaded screwfix in my second piccy. Dreaded? Yeap. Loose asbestos. Mix it with a little water in the palm of your hand into a fibrous putty, push into the ragged hole and screw into it. Great stuff - for screws. Just killed you. Ah they were the days of innocence ‐------------ and ignorance.

 

[Yojevol]

Here's a few from my collection. They all came from my dad, he was a (ab)user of St Bruno in industrial quantities. I suspect many of the others came from his father:-

Many of them are filled with steel slot head screws which I don't suppose I'll ever use. So what to do with them?
Brian

PS My tine of Screwfix is still full of the stuff. It's not particularly harmful. here is an extract from HSE advice:-

General points about asbestos:​

• asbestos is a general name given to several naturally occurring minerals that have crystallised to form fibres
• asbestos fibres are strong, heat and chemical resistant and do not dissolve in water or evaporate
• there are 2 sub-groups; serpentine (white asbestos) and amphiboles (including blue and brown asbestos) of which serpentine was the more commonly used
• prior to use being banned asbestos was used in many products including insulation material for buildings, boilers and pipes; car brakes and floor tiles
• the importation, supply and use of all asbestos has been banned in the UK since 1999; the amphibole type has been banned since 1985
• amphibole (blue and brown) asbestos is much more hazardous than serpentine (white) asbestos
• asbestos is not considered harmful when in large pieces and undamaged
• when damaged asbestos can release smaller fibres that can be breathed in or swallowed
• breathing in asbestos can lead to a condition called asbestosis that leads to an increased susceptibility to cancer
• asbestos has been classified as being carcinogenic to humans

 

[TRITON]

I've one Golden Virginia tin and one 10pk camel tin. The camel tin is quite rare and worth too much to use storing things.

 

[johnnyb]

Must be white asbestos as that readily mixes with water. Blue and brown repel water so aren't used in these applications. Also blue was classed as dangerous many years ago.

 

[John Brown]

(though what the connection is between the Nuns and pipe tobacco beats me ).

Something to do with hard habits to get out of.

 

[antifoul2020]

Here’s mine

 

[Adam W.]

I love looking at these tins, it's like a trip back in time.

 

[ChrisWiduWood]

Here's a few from my collection. They all came from my dad, he was a (ab)user of St Bruno in industrial quantities. I suspect many of the others came from his father:-


Many of them are filled with steel slot head screws which I don't suppose I'll ever use. So what to do with them?
Brian

PS My tine of Screwfix is still full of the stuff. It's not particularly harmful. here is an extract from HSE advice:-

​

Thats a fine collection! exactly what i was hoping to see!

 

[ChrisWiduWood]

@ChrisWiduWood I suspect your tin that fixes 100 screws is probably the dreaded screwfix in my second piccy. Dreaded? Yeap. Loose asbestos. Mix it with a little water in the palm of your hand into a fibrous putty, push into the ragged hole and screw into it. Great stuff - for screws. Just killed you. Ah they were the days of innocence ‐------------ and ignorance.

i will take a look into this very interesting, i think it might be the one!

 

[ChrisWiduWood]

Old Holborn and Golden Virginia... stacks of 'em.
(bought at sea when tobacco was "£1 per pound")

Evidence

 

[ChrisWiduWood]

I've one Golden Virginia tin and one 10pk camel tin. The camel tin is quite rare and worth too much to use storing things.

Show us then!

 

[TRITON]

Show us then!

Heavens sake....you got some sort of weird fetish for tobacco tins

Standard green GV tin, and the Camel tin below.
I believe the camel tin was for 10pk crush packets. You probably paid a bit more, got the usual 10pk and the tin along with it.

Some tins were covered in glued together matchsitcks and became known as 'prison art'. With smoking no longer allowed in prisons, I suppose thats now lost.

See if I can find an example.
Yup, usual 'matchstick design.

I think using a tin and doing something like basket-weave marquetry on it would look pretty cool.
I've given this a go myself and the effect is really good. Fair bit involved, veneer selection, sand shading and accurate cutting, but a fun project all the same, and worthwhile result for all the work.
https://www.redbridgemarquetrygroup.org/basket weave.html

 

[joinerdan]

Love a baccy tin. Here’s a few I’ve collected and framed. Lovely examples of early advertising