Its XMAS time at the front...

[Chris Boonzaier]

I know there are similar chocolate/candy/sweet tins for WW1, WW2 and the Boer war....

Anyone have any others?

[Ed_Haynes]

Interesting, Chris. I think we all know of Queen Mary's tins, but this is an especially interesting one. Which war?

[Chris Boonzaier]

Hi,

WW2 South African. When i was akid they were all over the place. I found this one about 3 years ago at a flea market in Cape Town. Filled with junk modern badges.

I asked "How much" and she gave a ridiculous price (for the badges)... I told here they were way out of my price range ...maybe I could just take the tin ;-)

[Chris Boonzaier]

So... anyone wantto post examples of the British / American whatever chocolate and sweetie tins)

[Tony]

Not official and not just for Christmas but here's a Callard and Bowser's butterscotch tin.

Should I add some Mary tins?

[J Temple-West]

Ah, yes ye olde sweetie tins. I remember a few of these being used by my Grandmother as storage for needles etc. But the one I shall always hold dear is the one that was given to my Father when he was a child and I still have today.

Yes it?s the common ?Mary?, still containing the pencil bullet and card, but with a little something extra that a small boy (and some older collectors) would love.

[J Temple-West]

Pencil bullet and card..

[J Temple-West]

By no means the official contents...But still period.

[J Temple-West]

A small collection of period headgear in lead.

[leigh kitchen]

By no means the official contents...But still period.

What is this? "Herbal" tobacco? In which case should'nt the tin be covered in matchsticks or pictures of thins that look like tomato plants?

[sabrigade]

An Australian tin dated 1915 from my collection.

[Mervyn Mitton]

The tin that Chris showed at the top was a larger size and not very common. The standard tin contained cigarettes - as shown above and below. They were issued from 1940 to 1945 and were always from OUMA and OUPA SMUTS (grandma and grandpa). Since they were only to Sth. African troops they are not so collected overseas.

[Mervyn Mitton]

[sabrigade]

This is the same tin that Chris has posted. It is part of my WW2 collection and contains the original contents manufactured by CADBURY.

[sabrigade]

A tin from the colonies of Trinidad, Grenada and St Lucia. It contained chocolate and was presented during WW1.

[sabrigade]

A pipe striker and pipe that were also contents of the Princess Mary WW1 tin. The striker is marked and displays her monogram. This item is very scarce, apparently due to the manufacturer not being able to deliver sufficient quantities on time.

[leigh kitchen]

Interesting stuff, & I've never seen the tins pipe & slow burner before.

[leigh kitchen]

"Chrstmas 1916"

I have this, made of very sturdy card, on the sides it has representations of:

Holly & the royal crest of lion on crown to represent the army at one end, holly & crown over anchor to represent the Royal Navy at the other, national emblems of the English rose & Scottish thistle one side, Irish shamrock & Welsh leek the other.

[Thomas Symmonds]

How about this one. Xmas 1900 South Africa.

[leigh kitchen]

Nice, they're attractive tins - the one I have has only a mess of chocolate for contents - post no. 5 in this thread, posted in the "Africa" section of the forum:

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=36503

There are a couple more threads on various Xmas tins here on the British Empire & Commonwealth Militaria section:

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=5674&hl=xmas+tins

http://gmic.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=5674&hl=xmas+tins

Anything good in yours?

[leigh kitchen]

From "Private Tucker's Boer War Diary" (Pamela Todd & David Fordham, Elm Tree books,1982)

[JBeltram]

Hi John,

I love the collection of lead hats in your tin. I have two Princess Mary tins one of them is well polished and the other has most of the gilt finish and some of the contents.

Regards,

Jody