MISCELLANEOUS TINS

The Blasting Tin Catalog

by Mike Reilly

The following is a short email interview with Andy Martin, the catalog's author.

Date: 97-11-19 01:16:11 EST,  From: ChipTin, To: martin@mmsi.com

     Hello Andy, my name is Mike Reilly. I'm the publisher of a tin collector email newsletter called the TIN GATHERING.  I'm in the process of creating an internet tin collecting book and I've listed your book as a reference item for my readers/visitors.

     There seems to be some conflict as to whether your book is still available or not (still in print). Could you let me know about this?

     If you would be interested in authoring a short article about your work, I would be happy to publish it in the newsletter. I can also put you on the mailing list, it's FREE.

Hope to hear from you.

Mike Reilly)

Date: 97-11-19 11:13:25 , From: martin@mmsi.com (Andy Martin), 

Hi Mike-

    FROM Chiptin: I'm in the process of creating an internet tin collecting book

 and I've listed your book as a reference item for my readers/visitors.

     REPLY: Thanks very much for listing my book at this site. The info you have listed is as follows:

    FROM Chiptin:  Blasting cap tin catalog : over 200 tins illustrated, by Andy Martin, Availability: This title is out of print, but if you place an order we may be able to find you a used copy within 1-3 months. Published by Old Adit Press, ISBN: 0962876208, Reviews and Commentary: The author, Andy Martin martin@mmsi.com , 10/25/97: Info on the Blasting Cap Tin Catalog : This 88 page book is a must have reference for mining artifact collectors. It illustrates and describes over 200 detonator tins. Still in Print(?).

     REPLY: This is correct, and "Still in Print(?)." can be changed to "In Print". Attached is some further info.

    FROM Chiptin:  If you would be interested in authoring a short article about your work, I would be happy to publish it in the newsletter.

     REPLY: If you want more info than the attached, just let me know. I will also try to email you an illustration of a tin. Feel free to add it to your site if desired.

    FROM Chiptin:  I can also put you on the mailing list, it's FREE.

     REPLY: Sure, I'll give it a try. I have collected items from abandoned mines for many years, and have found some interesting tobacco, syrup, coffee, and other tins underground. Finally, suppose it would make sense to discuss price/shipping time issues on the Cap Tin Catalog. Since I do not have a lot of copies available, it is hard for me to sell large quantities at a 40-50% discount to booksellers. Then again, Amazon.com deserves to make a profit, as does your site. In any case, let me know if these issues need to be hashed out.

Thanks you - Andy

(Editor's Note - Readers, feel free to order Andy's book directly from him. If you can get any book at a better price than what Amazon has, please let me know.)

     REPLY: Attached Item: The "Cap Tin Catalog" by Andy Martin is an 88 page black & white softcover book which illustrates over 200 Blasting Cap tins. These metal boxes contained 10 to 100 fuse ignited detonators. The blasting caps were most commonly used in mines and quarries to initiate dynamite explosions. The tins were sold by all the major high-explosive manufacturers - eg. DuPont, Hercules, Atlas - and also sold directly from the cap makers - California Cap Co, Metallic Cap, and others. The book gives short histories of these companies, along with variation and rarity information on the tins.

To Order: :Send check for $10 [$8 for Catalog, $2 for shipping & handling] to

Andy Martin, 3030 N. Sarsaparilla Pl., Tucson AZ 85749

Return Policy: If not satisfied, Catalog my be returned within 30 days for full refund.

Shipping: Normal shipping is within a few days of receipt of order. Item(s) are shipped with US post office at book rate.

Further Info: Feel free to write the above address, call Andy at home (520) 760-0337,

or email <martin@mmsi.com>. The Blasting Cap Tin  web site

How Collecting Interests Overlap

by Mike Reilly

     Last March when I started the TIN GATHERING™ a co-worker told me about a race car tin that Miller Brewing Co. put out as a promotion. Well he finally got me one this week. Miller sponsors a race car (driven by Rusty Wallace? His picture is on the underside of the tin. Sorry, I'm not up on the racing scene.) and the tin duplicates the colors and advertising found on the real car. The tin measures about 10 1/2 inches long by 4 1/4 inches wide. They came out in 1996 (?) and were probably in a nice box, rumor has it that the tin contained some trading cards(?).

     Now for the overlap. Certain tin collectors would snap these up, as well as, racing collectors, Miller beer collectors, general Breweriana collectors, and if they contained trading cards, these collectors would be interested. Now this is quite a different group of collectors but this one item is interesting to all of them.

     Remington, America's oldest gunmaker, has recently begun selling .22 rimfire cartridges in a similar race car tin, also dated 1996, made by the same company - J.I. Clark of Rockford, IL. The tin has the same dimensions as the Miller one. I found one this week at a Farm & Fleet store. They come nicely boxed, the car is wrapped in plastic, and the tin holds 350 real cartridges. So if you buy one, either take out shells or keep it away from children. It was priced at $19.95 but has been on sale for $16.95. You can probably find them at major sporting goods stores.

     Who would this appeal to besides tin and racing collectors? How about gun collectors? How about those interested in ammunition boxes, crates and other packaging or just plain hunters?

     Why did I mention these two items? Because I wanted to show you readers how you can exist with one newsletter and have different collecting interests. Not everyone is going to have an interest in a particular item but in general these are what we call "go-withs". They can be collected as a sub group of larger different collections or they can be treated as a separate collecting group themselves. All depends on your perspective.

     If you saw the movie "Independence Day", the President asks the alien if they can co-exist? If there can be a peace? I certainly hope so among my subscribers.

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Halloween Collectibles

by Mike Reilly

     October is of course Halloween month and walking into a Wal-Mart store certainly reminds you it's coming up. I went into one earlier this week for other items and happened to walk past the aisles filled with Halloween merchandise (Actually I did this on purpose.). I was looking for Halloween related tins but the only ones I saw were about a half dozen different designed pop corn tins.

     I've been trying to remember if there were such things as metal Halloween pails for collecting your treats in; something like the now popular sand pails. But nothing came to mind. I was disappointed not to see anything else made of metal; everything was of plastic or cloth. Probably more for safety reasons but also to reduce costs.

     What would a Halloween collector collect? Have you saved your old childhood costumes and non-perishable items? What are you doing with you children's or grandchildren's Halloween things?

     I started making a list of some things a person could find for a collection.

     You don't have to strictly collect Halloween items, you may already have something Halloweenish in your collection. Don't take my Elvira Coors beer advertising piece! Companies are always looking for ways to market their products and I'm sure that something will eventually make its way into your collection.

     Let me know what you have in your collection that's has a Halloween flavor and I'll print it next time.

Date: 97-10-09 13:20:39 EDT

From: KSCN80A@prodigy.com (MRS JEANNIE TUCKER)

     Hi Mike - you asked in your newsletter about tin Halloween items. If you have Bed Bath & Beyond, look for the Halloween CHupa Chups tin. Kinda cute - Kinda ugly, well ID'd and it has monsters all over it. I was excited with it because you don't see many Halloween-theme tins.Plus, the lollipops will make great trick-or-treat favors. Tin was $9.95 in my area - probably comparable price most places.

      Also, I haven't seen it yet, but several Tin Fax subscribers have written to me to tell me about the Whitman's tin Snoopy with candy. I'm told it is shaped like Snoopy and depicts Snoopy in his Halloween costume. In fact, I plan to look for that today. Lots of plastic Snoopy/Whitman's advertising again this year at grocery stores, drug stores and Hallmarks.

Film Canisters - 35mm

(For pics go here)

Afga

Blacks

Fuji

Ilford

Japan Camera

Kodak

Konica

Sooters

Miscellaneous

Story Tins

by Mike Reilly

     Some of the oldest decorated tins in existence are those that had printed on their exteriors, stories or rhymes. Certain "stories" were told with "wordless" pictures in "frames" that may have covered all sides and the lid and the reader would rotate the canister to figure out what it was about.

     Many of those made were "generic" in nature. That is their contents may have varied depending on what the manufacturer was using the tin for. The graphics or lettering on the outside may not have given one a clue to its contents.

     The rhymes were not the typical child variety that we're accustomed to, at least not in the beginning. One early (1870's-80's) GINNA & COMPANY tin depicted the heathen Chinese. At the time the Chinese immigrants were not looked upon with a great deal of respect or trust.

     Peter Rabbit was a favorite theme on many children tins including pail-type varieties many of them produced by TINDECO in Baltimore.

     According to Hyla M. Clarke in her book "The Tin Can Book" most all of these early story tins are highly sought after. If the price of older sand pails is any indication, be prepared to pay dearly for some of these treasures.

     These tins would make an interesting addition to any collection. Whether they're collected for themselves or part of a larger collection, they are probably well worth it.

     Many contemporary tins may be included in the story tin category though I would probably draw the line at ones talking about company histories (if readers disagree with this, please let me know.)

     If you have any favorite story/rhyme tin that you would like to share with your fellow reader, please send info to ChipTin.

     Much of the info for this article came from Hyla M. Clarke's book. An excellent book - check your library if they can get a copy for you to read. Don't forget - many libraries can get books for you from anywhere in the U.S.A.