Unusual Artifacts: An English Biscuit Tin, 1894

The advent of the now celebrated British biscuit tin came when the Licensed Grocer's Act of 1861 allowed foods to be individually packaged and sold by different brands. At first, paper labels were affixed to these tins. This coincided with the removal of the duty on paper for printed labels.

Soon, however, logos and colorful images were printed directly on to tinplate and exotically decorated and shaped tins began to emerge. The new process of offset lithography, patented in 1877 allowed multicolored designs to be printed on exotically shaped tins.

The most exotic designs came about during the end of the Nineteenth Century and until the First World War during which the production of these tins became prohibited by cost of printing and scarcity of tin.

Here, we see a brightly-colored Christmas tin which dates to 1894. This is part of collection of such lovely tins that is housed in the Victoria and Albert Museum.