1970s Dunhill tins

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May 8, 2017
1,593
1,627
Sugar Grove, IL, USA
I have acquired about 90 unopened Dunhill tins from the 1970s. Standard Mixture Full, Medium, and Mild, Mr. Alfred's, 965, Royal Yacht, Rough Cut Virginia, and Mixture 10. There's even one tin that seems to be Ye Olde Sign on one side and Standard Mixure on the other. Most tins have some amount of corrosion, ranging from graying metal to rust. The majority seem to have their seals intact, based on the lack of sound when shaken. All have paper liners. I cracked open one of the 965 tins and the tobacco is in lovely shape, ready to pack. Flavor is definitely more mellow than fresh, modern 965, but delicious. It's my hope, even expectations, that the paper liners will have protected the tobacco from any interior rust flavors.
I'm uncertain what I'll do with these. Perhaps a few of the tins in the best condition will find their way to Steve Fallon. The worst, I'll smoke.
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May 8, 2017
1,593
1,627
Sugar Grove, IL, USA
Craigslist estate sale. The listing mentioned an overpriced Peterson system premier and a Dunhill pipe, which turned out to be an unsmoked 1968 group 4 3/4 bent shell, but said nothing of the tobacco.

 

oldtoby

Part of the Furniture Now
Dec 7, 2011
798
341
Craig, try the Alfred's Own. If it's in good condition, it should be sublime.
Great score, brother pipeman. :puffy:

 

brian64

Lifer
Jan 31, 2011
9,602
14,666
Craigslist estate sale. The listing mentioned an overpriced Peterson system premier and a Dunhill pipe, which turned out to be an unsmoked 1968 group 4 3/4 bent shell, but said nothing of the tobacco.
That's amazing...congrats on an incredible find!
And where else should Craiginthecorn be expected to make such a find but on
CRAIGSLIST!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4sALru9IJk

 
May 8, 2017
1,593
1,627
Sugar Grove, IL, USA
I hope you're right, oldtoby! I've got about 2 dozen tins of Mr. Albert's Own Mixture. From my research, these seem to be from the sometime in the early to mid-1970s. They're definitely pre-Murray and the bottom of the smaller tins are stamped "2 oz" and make no mention of grams. Those dates are consistent with the Dunhill pipe I bought, which was from 1968. Also, the K-Mart and Venture tags would indicate 1970s, since that's when Venture moved into the Chicago area -- about 1978, if I recall correctly. There were some tins with Turn Style tags, too, and those stores were all bought by Venture.
I'll be weighing and shaking each tin soon. That should ID the most well-sealed tins. There are some where clearly the tobacco is dry, but I'd venture to say that 80-90% seem to be in pretty good shape in terms of the condition of the seal. I hadn't realized previously that coin tins of that era were simply a friction fit, like the square tins of today. While there is surface rust on a decent percentage of the tins, none seems to have perforated the tins. The interior of the tins does have some black spots, which I'm guessing is a precursor to rust, but the paper seems to be a good physical barrier.

 
May 8, 2017
1,593
1,627
Sugar Grove, IL, USA
I was a bit too optimistic. Only a little over half are silent when shaken and appropriate weight. I've opened one of the worst tins with respect to the amount of corrosion and weight. The tobacco was dry, almost crispy, but intact. There was no rust in the tin -- only general darkness. I actually suspect that that particular tin had been opened because the disc of paper was upside down.
A few of the tins are Mixture 10, which I understand is quite rare.
Pipestud seems to have pretty strict rules for tins he'll list, so only a handful will qualify. For some reason, certain blends seemed to resist exterior corrosion better than others. All of the Mr. Alfred's Own Mixture look pretty rough, but I have more than a dozen which have good seals.

 
Aug 16, 2018
20
0
That’s pretty awesome. I love how the tins of yore had the tin art emblazoned onto the metal, rather than the cheap stickers we are stuck with today.

 
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