Vintage Christmas tins from McVities, Jacobs and Carrs

It’s the time of year again when we fill our homes with festive food. Everyone will be familiar with the selection tins food manufacturers offer every year. The History of Advertising Trust has within its McVitie’s collection nearly 300 examples of these tins which have been produced for over a century.

The British biscuit tin came about when the Licensed Grocer's Act of 1861 allowed groceries to be individually packaged and sold. The new process of offset lithography, patented in 1877 allowed multicoloured designs to be printed on to exotically shaped tins.

	This Carr and Co. late Victorian tin (c1890s-1900) has holes on each side which would have allowed string to be attached for it to be re-used as a bag.
	Jacob’s produced a Christmas Cake during the 1930s whose bright and colourful tin was designed specifically to appeal to children.

Clare Smith

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