Useful Collectibles: Antique Tins
02.29.08 By The DeanIf you are living in one of our colder climate states as I do, spring and garage sales cannot come soon enough. Even estate sales seem to be few and far between in this colder, snowier year. With the seed catalogs arriving in snail mail, we are thinking spring and hoping that a good crop of antiques will follow.
While it is fun and informative to browse antique malls, learning by observing price tickets, checking tags for manufacturer’s names and talking with sales people or an occasional dealer doing restocking, it takes a great effort to find good bargains. That’s the case for either one’s own collection or for resale purposes. Garage sales often have limited amounts of goods but it’s easy to run through 10-15 places on a Saturday morning.
Estate sales offer a much better chance to find goodies, especially if you are willing to dig. Wifey always heads for the expensive collectibles, decorative items and jewelry, usually located within sight of the checkout station and watched over by helpful staff. I am more inclined to start in the garage or basement, where advertising antique tins or stacks of paper are often hiding. And wifey joins me in the basement. It’s always the location where the estate seller places things they have little interest in and will frequently undervalue.
I have prowled through many a basement work shop or root cellar for tins, often buying the canister and discarding the washer, nuts or bolts they contain. (My own workshop is already loaded with full coffee tins.)
Tin collectors are a special breed. Many will purchase an example in poor condition, rather than pass up one that’s not in their collection. While condition affects price, rarity trumps condition every time. Many collectors focus on the artistic graphics on old tin. Tobacco tins are the easiest to find and come in a vast array of shapes and sizes, and with rare exception, if you heard of the brand, it is most likely quite common.
When hunting, check under and around all work areas, peek into medicine cabinets, fruit cellars, pantries, attics, closets and garages. Antique tins hide in all these places. And I have been known to inquire about items not marked for sale, sometimes “Yes” produces a super buy.
Our personal collection is very modest and centers around talcum powder tins. They sit on the sink top in our guest powder room and create the look of the 1930s. Antique tins are handy storage containers. That’s why many survived but where they are stored can also lead to condition problems. Holding “things” on a basement shelf may have saved it from the trash bin but basement dampness can destroy the graphics. Sunlight will fade the colors and proximity to chemicals in the garage can bubble the printing.
Tins are easily placed on shelves, a window sill or on furniture, 
their bright colors and graphics create a wonderful display. Tins were used for a great many products beside tobacco and powders, including candy and cookies, other food products, chemicals, oils, spices, coffee, prophylactics, hardware items and even industrial components.
Starting a collection requires a small investment, and I suggest that should include a reference guide to acquaint yourself with the relative price structure. This book is our guide to rating rarity with prices in broad terms and reflecting a range of conditions. It’s from Collector Books, a division of Schroeder Publications and is available from on line sellers, just search Google = Antique Tins by Fred Dodge.
Good hunting, and if you have an anecdote on tin collecting give us a comment.
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Article Tags: antique, canister, estate sale, tin, tins================
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