Just picked up this sealed tin for 4 quid. Wondering if anyone has ever come across it before. Quite a lot of surface corrosion, but seems to still be sealed.
Fryer's & Co.
- Thread starter jaingorenard
- Start date
SmokingPipes.com Updates
Watch for Updates Twice a Week
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
Site Sponsors
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor
I haven’t come across a tin of that before. Are you going to open it? If so, please post some pictures!
It was made between 1955-1965 see list of tobaccos;
When I do, I'll definitely post pictures!
No, I'd say earlier.
That pdf off the net is miles off on dates. Check your staple condor for example.
Your link is great for checking up on blending houses & names but date wise.... Just as well pull one out of the air.
Steve Norse from Vermont Freehand had a tin of this stuff just before the Chicago Pipe Show, and I emailed him what information I could find from the periodicals I had on hand. I think he did open it but I don't recall having read a review / reaction / autopsy.
As I recall C Fryer & Sons claimed to date back to 1803. The gross inaccuracies in many of their advertisements a century later suggest a certain degree of skepticism is warranted. They claim Bryon, for example, lauded their Special Mixture in 1803 in his poem “The Island” with the immortal lines…
Glorious in a pipe,
Mellow, rich and ripe
…lines which appear in numerous C Freyer advertisements.
Alas “The Island” wasn’t published until 1823, and there is no reference to C Freyer’s tobacco in the poem.
Having said that the business did date back well into the mid 19th century, although for much of that time it was styled Fryer & Coultman (after owners Christopher Fryer and William Henry Coultman). And prior to the time Coultman, who started as a clerk and worked his way up, came on the scene various Freyers were involved in the manufacture of tobacco since at least the 1830s.
More immediately relevant to the question at hand is this advertisement from July 1930
which demonstrates that the fine cut version of the Special Smokynge Mixture was available at least a generation earlier than 1955; and presumably sold to tourists at ye Olde Shoppe in between ogling buxom wenches in Jacobean garb, oohing and aahing at authentic relics of Bonnie Prince Charlie, and taking turns on the dunking stool.
PS Congratulations on a wonderful find. I hope you find the contents beautifully preserved when you choose to crack the tin.
Last edited:
It's so cool to see some of these old tins being opened and enjoyed instead of rusting into dust. Plus 4 quid you stole it! Not to hijack your thread but I just popped this old tin yesterday and it's another vintage blend with very few reviews out there.
If you do decide to pop that tin please post your thoughts! It is a tough decision to open or leave sealed for many vintage goods.
If you do decide to pop that tin please post your thoughts! It is a tough decision to open or leave sealed for many vintage goods.