Sealed and Empty Tin of Edgeworth, Why?

Yes, tobacco companies did use empty tins in advertising.

I don't know the answer to your two questions. I'd weigh the "Edgeworth" tin and a similar sized empty tin to help determine if indeed it is empty. I would also bet that tins made it off the "line" empty and sealed and sometimes they even made it into a container and were shipped for resale. So, I really wouldn't find an empty tin all that unusual. What would be unusual is that someone, in a retail shop, may have noticed it and retained it.

Warren sounds right. the good thing is if it is empty an a factory tin. Its probabley worth more this way to a collector.

I think MLC wrote of this very thing a while back...........something about buying a sealed tin on ebay only to realize it was indeed SEALED and it was indeed EMPTY...... made for store displays and such... I'll try to find the thread..........

I think MLC wrote of this very thing a while back...........something about buying a sealed tin on ebay only to realize it was indeed SEALED and it was indeed EMPTY...... made for store displays and such... I'll try to find the thread..........

Click to expand...

yup,

that was me, kinda hard to find because it was buried in the Pix o Toby thread.
Sad,

but funny!
I was like hopeful until the very end and that fateful *plink* :lol:
I'll go ahead and xerox it here for reference or what not:
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Found a very scarce unopened cutter-top made by an American maker,

you hardly ever see these so it was a cause for celebration.
It arrived today!

:D











There was some cause for slight concern, the signs of rust and a non- top, but I went ahead and bought it because one rarely sees 'em --- it seemed incredibly light when I first held it and had no shake whatsoever...
...I wanted to open it immediately, so off I went.
The puncture released that glorious vacuum hiss and excitement was shiverin' my timbers...
...but the glorious hiss was missing any glorious aroma which should be present,

continue twisting ( knife lid ecstasy I was in!) and then suddenly an odd sound of the lid plinking against metal WTF?!?!? Gosh begosh if the damn thing really was empty LOL that'd explain why it was light as a feather, duh. :roll:

Dammit!

:evil:



Pitfalls of buying vintage tins abound and here's another one I fell right into! LOL

The damn thing turned out to be a "dummy tin" made solely for display - the British tins are usually marked or stamped as such, but this one looked like the real deal.
Glad I only paid a few bucks for it, otherwise I'd be pissed.
Was it fun to open?

Yes.

Yes it was;

until the plink of the lid that is, because with that sound my stomach plummeted too, all hope lost!

The damn thing turned out to be a "dummy tin" made solely for display - the British tins are usually marked or stamped as such, but this one looked like the real deal.

Click to expand...

Well I learned something today.

Your post brought back a bad memory, Snag.
A couple of years ago there was a four ounce tin of a cutter top Rattray's Old Gowrie on eBay. The photos included a lot of pictures and it looked to be in terrific condition. The seller, in the item description, said the tin felt heavy. Well duh, it had tobacco in it, right? I put in a proxy bid and won the auction at an amazing low price of less than $80. When I got the tin, I discovered it was a paperweight and that the paper wrapping was around a molded block of concrete rock. I went back and looked at the auction photos. The seller had not shown a picture of the bottom of the tin which was not metal, but the concrete base. He got me. )-:

When I got the tin, I discovered it was a paperweight and that the paper wrapping was around a molded block of concrete rock.

Click to expand...

Yowza!

:!:

:lol:
...but at least yours had something in it!
Hmmm,

I've been looking for a good paperweight,

how much ya want for it?

:wink:
Thanks for sharing the story,

good stuff.

:idea:

:P

Interesting thread and great information to be aware of, especially the fact that the Brits made empty tins on purpose.
Thanks, Misterlowercase!

Display tins are often weighed to keep them stable in shop window or floor displays. I have an old sealed tin of half and half that sounds and feels like it has lump of lead banging around loose in it.
Bob

Well mrlowercase, I'd give it to you except that I used it as a raffle item at one of my local pipe club meetings. I'd like to get it back for you but the guy offed his wife with it and is now in prison. It made for a vicious blow to the cranium. Okay, that part's a lie but it really was in the raffle.
Pipestud

:D
What a great raffle item!
...and I suddenly see a future for all the empty tins I've reluctantly collected,

Ready-Mix here I come!

This whole thread reminds me of a story my Father used to tell. Just after WW2 he and his friend saw and advertisement in the Exchange & Mart which will be familiar to readers on here of a certain age for a 'Guaranteed Moth Killer - Works Every Time!' for 5 Shillings. He and his friend sent off a money order for 5 Shillings and in due course received in the mail a package. Upon opening it was found to contain two small blocks of wood marked 'A' and 'B' respectively and a slip of type written paper. The instructions told the operator to place the moth on block 'B' and bring block 'A' smartly down on top of block 'B' and the result was guaranteed to result in the moths demise.

...Upon opening it was found to contain two small blocks of wood marked 'A' and 'B' respectively and a slip of type written paper. The instructions told the operator to place the moth on block 'B' and bring block 'A' smartly down on top of block 'B' and the result was guaranteed to result in the moths demise.

Click to expand...

:lol:

LOL

In the UK, it's more often seen on packet tobaccos, and often actually printed that way...
On tins, the bottom would be actually be impressed with "dummy tin", and in some cases, stamped in ink with the simple phrase "dummy".
:P

Theres an antique store on line from the UK that has loads of those 'Dummy' boxes and tins but just occasionally they have the odd unopened package of tobacco!

Theres an antique store on line from the UK that has loads of those 'Dummy' boxes and tins but just occasionally they have the odd unopened package of tobacco!

Click to expand...

One of my favorite haunts.
I am "philofumo" on the forums over there.

8)
That's the joint where I learned the delightful British appellation, diamond geezer !