The Wonderful World of Old Biscuit Tin Cans

Monday, October 8, 2018
Canadian Easter Day
Sunny with Clouds
12 C 54 F

The Wonderful World of

Old Tin Biscuit Cans

     I haven't been doing much blogging lately. Today, I ventured over to Bertoia Auctions to see what interesting toys that they had for sale. Sure enough, I found plenty. However, what caught my eye, were a fine group of old biscuit tin cans from Britain.  The auction date is November 10-11, 2018. You can look at their items for sale either on Bertoia Auctions website or on Liveauctioneers.

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/auctioneer/27/bertoia-auctions/

http://www.bertoiaauctions.com/toy-auctions/annual-fall-auction-november-10-11-2018/

   Biscuit tins are steel cans that were made of tin plate. By about 1850, Great Britain had become the major supplier of tin plate throughout the world. Before there were tin plate cans, people purchased biscuits in bulk and put them in bags. With the advent of tin cans, there were 2 major functions of these cans for biscuits. The first was for preserving the biscuits, and the second (developed later on) was the "encouraging" of people to buy these cans for their children (of course with the biscuits inside). Eventually, the biscuit cans became in all sizes and shapes. As well, printing became more common with the patenting (1877) of a new printing process called lithography.

     The most sophisticated designs were produced in the early 1900's and later on in the 1920's and 1930's. However, costs became more expensive later on, and thus providing these nice cans became less. WWI interrupted the production of these cans due to the need of metals for the war effort. The same thing happened during WWII, and eventually tin cans became less popular, and with the added cost, they eventually disappeared from production.

Rolls Royce Biscuit Tin

Producer: William Crawford

Reading Biscuits Speedboat Biscuit Tin

Huntley and Palmer

Length:  17"  433 mm

Pride of London Airplane Biscuit Tin

W>Crawford & Sons, Scotland, England

Circa 1920

Length:  15 1 /2"  394 mm

Double Decker Delicious Biscuit Tin

Carr & Company, Carlisle, England

Length:  8 1/2"  216 mm

Jacobs & Company Snow Sled Biscuit TIn

Length:  7 1/2"  191 mm

Flying Scotsman Locomotive Biscuit Tin

W. Crawford & Sons

Length:  16"  408 mm

Royal Coronation Coach  Biscuit  Tin

W.R. Jacob & Company

Length:  6 1/2"  165 mm

Pied Piper Tambourine Biscuit Tin

Cart & Company, England

Length:  5 1/2"  140 mm

Organ Grinder Biscuit Tin

William Crawford and Sons

Length:  8 1/2"   216 mm

Windmill House Biscuit Tin

B.M.W..Limited advertisement

for Christie's Biscuits since 1853

Length:  8"  203 mm