I listened to Rich Lakin reading one of his poems on his blog yesterday. It was about ‘Word Tins’. You can check it out here.
My reply to him was that I never had word tins, but I did have a tin that I kept my treasures in as a child. He suggested I should write about my tin.
Most people smoked when I was young, including my mum and dad. Dad rolled his own cigarettes, favouring a popular tobacco called Old Holborn, which is still sold here. To keep the tobacco fresh, he would keep it in the tin that it came in, a tin emblazoned with the distintive logo of the brand.
By the time I was given my tin, it was old and well-used, a lot like the one in the photo above.
The first things I kept in that tin were some foreign coins. Some were from India, a legacy of my dad’s army service during WW2. I also had a coin with a hole punched in the centre, which I think was from somewhere in Asia. (Probably Japan) I was sure that those unusual coins would be worth a great deal one day.
Next to go into my treasure hoard was a medal. It was in the shape of a star, and was given to me by one of the family friends who were always known as ‘uncle’, though they were not related. Sixty-two years later, I cannot be sure, but I think it was a Burma Star. It certainly looked like one, as I recall. Here is a photo of one.
Something else I expected to be incredibly valuable when I was older. Hard to believe that they now sell online for around £20. Given what they went through to get one, that doesn’t seem right.
The coins and medal were the only occupants of the old tin for at least a year. Then for some reason I became interested in elastic bands, especially coloured ones. Very soon I had a dozen or more stored in the tin. One very light blue one was a favourite, until I acquired a bright yellow one from somewhere and that went to the top in my estimation. I used one of them -a red one- to secure the tin after that, as the lid was becoming loose.
A day at the beach provided the final addition to the tin, when I was around eight years old. On a stony beach somewhere in Kent, I found a beach pebble that looked like a small pig in profile. At first I presumed someone had carved it into that shape and dropped it, but my mum was sure that all those years on the beach had formed the shape by the pebble constantly being moved by the sea. Either way, it was certainly a treasure, so the pig-stone went into the tin, which was now almost full.
Resecured with the red elastic band, I put it in my small hand-made wardrobe, and there it stayed. I would occasionally open the tin, feel the smooth lines of the pig-stone, and hold the medal to my chest as if I had won it. When the red elastic band finally perished, the tin went into a drawer under my socks.
Between 1967 and 1976, I moved house three times. During one or other of those moves, my treasure tin disappeared.
I just hope whoever found it valued its contents as much as I did as a child.
Like Japanese coins and medal. 🏅
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He got that medal for fighting the Japanese in Burma. Glad you found it interesting.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I love this story! When our grandchildren were visiting, we went through my ‘treasures’, and found my childhood charm bracelet.
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I’m, happy to hear you still have your childhood treasures, Jennie. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Not all, but some. Best to you, Pete.
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A lovely memory, Pete…my father smoked the same bacci I recognise the tin he also had a funny contraption to roll his cigarettes I used to sit and watch him as a child it fascinated me 🙂 x
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The small rolling machines made it easier and neater, though my dad always used his hands.
Best wishes, Pete. x
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A wonderful memory, Pete! Isnt it interesting how most children are doing what a mankind has in its genes? Best wishes, Michael
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Small things can be such treasures to the young mind. I wish I still had my tin. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Fully understandable, Pete!🙂
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Reblogged this on OPENED HERE >> https:/BOOKS.ESLARN-NET.DE.
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I still have my Golden Virginia tin with my exam results print out, my blood donors card, a silver cigarette case and an old gold ring. Nothing added since about 1986, but it still sits in a draw taking up space 🙂
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It’s not taking up space, mate. It’s there to remind you of who you are and where you came from. Treasure it, and pass it on to the girls along with the stories of the items.
Best wishes, Pete.
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What a great memory of a precious possession. Did your dad put a slice of potato in the tin with his tobacco to keep it from drying out?
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As I recall, he used a slice of apple in his tin. Old Holborn was a strong tobacco, and years later I could still smell it when I opened the tin to look at the contents.
Best wishes, Pete.
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oh, what treasure, and I hope the finder values it too –
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I like to hope they still have it. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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me too
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What a great memory, Pete. My parents kept many of my things, but I can’t recall ever having a box like that or its equivalent. In my household, my father was the one who kept plenty of trinkets in boxes, and we still have some of those. You’re right about the medal. I would have loved to have found your box, specially the pebble. These days, the box might have been worth something. They have many collectors. Thanks for sharing this, Pete!
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I was happy to remember my tin, after reading Rich’s original post.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Imagine the person who found your tin. They were probably thrilled. I would have liked those coins as I collected them. It reminds me of the saying, “One person’s junk is another person’s treasure.”
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I do hope somebody continued to enjoy my ‘treasure’. Thanks, Pete.
Best wishes, Pete.
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For some unusual reason I am having issues leaving comments, Pete. This is a lovely story!
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Thanks very much, Lara. I’m sorry about the comments. I haven’t changed any settings, so suspect a WordPress ‘glitch’.
Best wishes, Pete. x
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I love tins more than the original contents sometimes.- some really nice tins of cheap nasty biscuitsI have thrown out. But other tins of special toiletries are treasured long after the precious hand creams are used up. I have every item from important parties to old wooden reels of cotton!
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I currently use two tins to store some items. One is a shortbread tin, the other a tin that held chocolate brazil nuts. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Ps I meant papers not parties!
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I had a cigar box, as did my little brother. We treasured both the boxes and their contents. In fact just writing this I can recall the wonderful smell of cigar drenched wood.
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When I was older, I had a Cuban cigar box (Romeo y Julieta) that I kept pens and pencils in. It never lost the aroma of cigars.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I am glad you knew exactly what I meant. My was Cuban too, back when it was not off limits.
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My sister and I had a box we shared. We collected sheets of different writing paper and pictures from magazines that we liked. We had an empty vanilla essence bottle which we used to fight over. We liked the smell.
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Glad to hear you had a treasure box too, Robbie.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Kinda like a memory keeper…..it is so good to see you posting again….you have been missed chuq
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Thanks for missing me, chuq. That’s appreciated.
Best wishes, Pete.
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😎
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J.K. Rowling has your tin. The Pig Stone inspired her to write “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone.” But, of course, she took the basic idea of a pig and hammed it up quite a bit.
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I must be due some royalties then! She is one of the richest women in Britain.
(I have never read her books, nor watched the films)
Best wishes, Pete.
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I remember those green Old Holborn tins – my dad had one. I used to love the Quality Street tin which Mum would buy at Christmas depicting the soldier and his lady.
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I still use some tins to store stuff. One is a small shortbread tin, the other a bigger brazil nut tin from last Christmas.
Best wishes, Pete.
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love your story about your tin box, Pete. i never had one.
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Almost everyone had some kind of treasure box back then. Shame you were not old enough, or maybe it wasn’t a thing where you lived. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Very typical, I think, for kids “back then” to use that sort of tin. I think my were State Express cigarette tins. My grandfather had a proper little black box that originally had a key and somehow it came into my possession. It had a WW1 medal and a locket with his and grandmother’s picture. A a silver 3d coin.
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A box with a key would have been good, Carolyn. I remember silver 3d bits. My nan used to put one in the Christmas pudding.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Yes, I remember them going in the pudding. Perhaps that’s what that coin was kept for. I still have it.
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Those tobacco tins are so useful for all sorts of oddments: I still have a few from when I was a tradesman. Another small container which is not so common now, but is useful for keeping coins in, is 35mm film canisters: I have loads of the plastic ones! Those little elastic bands are the bane of my life: I keep getting them when I buy spring onions [scallions], but at least they’re not wrapped in plastic. The laggy bands do come in useful when wrapping things for the freezer though. Cheers, Jon.
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I save the elastic bands the postman drops as they are useful for various things. I still have a couple of tins that I store things in, but they no longer qualify as ‘treasures’. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Tins are so cool. I have several I keep things in. My father was a World War II vet also.
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My dad was already in the army as a regular, from 1936. He went to India from 1941-1946 and came out of the army when he got married to my mum in 1947.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I still have a tin like yours, Golden Virginia, mine has pins in it even though I haven’t done any sewing for decades!
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Nice to have, and you never know when a pin might come in handy. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete. x
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I enjoyed reading about your treasures Pete. Thank you.
Things that are ” incredibly valuable” don’t always fetch a lot down Camden Market. . . Yet that medal indeed has the deepest right to be considered incredibly valuable.
Cheers!
CT
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Thanks, Chris. Rich sparked up an old memory for me.
Best wishes, Pete.
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I love the tin and great you kept those things. Reminds me of the Small Faces’ Ogden’s Nut Gone Flake album too!
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That had a great album cover on the vinyl disc. 🙂
Cheers mate, Pete.
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