The sugar dispenser needed refilling the other day. I got the sugar canister out of the cupboard to fill our restaurant style sugar shaker. In doing so, I started thinking about how long I have kept sugar in my Vincent Van Gogh Iris tin and where I got it. That made me think about all the old tins I used to have which made me wonder how many I still have.
A quick search through the house yielded these two tins - other than a few tea tins which I have pictured before. The round, red-lidded, strawberry tin is one I have used as a sewing box for years and years and years. I don't even remember how long I've had it or where I got it. I keep spools of thread, pins, needles, buttons, etc. in it. On the bottom is stamped National Can Co. NY.
I'm not finding much about the National Can Co other than in the "19-teens, Metal Packaging Co, Boyle Can Co (Baltimore) and Shallita Brothers (New York) form the National Can Corporation." Also: "1912 - Al Bruns starts the Metal Packaging Company in Brooklyn. Reputed to be the best lithographer of cans in the country."
The Iris tin is much newer. The paper label on its bottom reads: "Gourmet French Vanilla Popcorn. Olive Can Co, Elgin, IL. I'm pretty sure I got this when some of my grandchildren were selling popcorn as a fund-raiser.
There was a time when I was crazy about tins of all types. I collected old coffee tins, tea, tobacco, spices, candy, nuts - anything I saw that I liked and didn't cost too much. Then I began buying products just because they came in a tin. For a few dollars more I could buy crackers, oatmeal, cookies, potato chips, tea, even wine, all packaged in Collector's Tins. I had the 1991 Limited Edition Crayola Colors (64 box plus special box of eight 'retired' colors) and the 1993 90th Anniversary tins. With every tin I collected, I imagined keeping them until they were worth a lot more than I had paid for them.
That was probably true of all the 'stuff' I once collected. But other than for monetary gain, why else do people collect? For me there had to be a personal connection - hair combs because I had long hair and liked to wear it up; teapots & tins because I loved drinking tea; pigs - banks, cups, ceramic, because I loved and raised pigs; wooden boxes; certain items with a woman motif, especially art deco; and so many other things. I marvel sometimes that I was able to let so much of my stuff go when we down-sized. I'm glad I did, but there are still days I think about some of the things I used to have.I guard against beginning to collect anything again, even though I perfectly remember the thrill of the hunt and the satisfaction of the find.
I only collect things that evoke memories. I've even been known to buy some cheap junk thing on Ebay because it makes me remember something in my childhood. For instance, I bought an old Tyler pop bottle because I used to drink Tyler grape over at Alvin Mitchell's shop when I was a kid. It's the truth!
ReplyDeleteDonna - Wouldn't it have been neat if you had found an old Tyler pop bottle when you were there with your Mom?
ReplyDeleteMy son found a very old Coca Cola bottle in a barn where we once lived.
Bottles are another classification of stuff I once collected.