Inspired to seek out some colorful tins of your own? First, get the scoop on collecting and caring for vintage and antique containersLook high and low: • Flea markets and antique malls may yield pieces ranging from 50 cents to $14; however, collectible tins like our oyster bucket can cost as much as $70 or $80. If you’re serious about collecting, hit antiques stores in search of these more valuable wares. • Keep your eyes peeled at yard sales, where you’ll find the lowest prices—often, people don’t know how coveted their pieces are. Become an expert: • Learn to tell the real from the reproduction. Old tins are often made of a heavier-gauge metal than their contemporary counterparts and will also not be as brightly colored. The inks used in earlier eras were not the super-bright versions of today, and aging generally causes further fading. • Study up. To learn more about collecting vintage tins, check out Advertising Tins: A Collector's Guide by Robert Opie. If you’re interested in contemporary tins, try Modern Collectible Tins: Identification & Values by Linda McPherson. Handle with care: • Preserve the colors of vintage and antique tins by storing them out of direct sunlight. • Never clean a tin with an abrasive cleaner and use soap only when absolutely necessary. It’s best to clean with a soft, lint-free cloth moistened with fresh water. After washing, wait 24 hours before putting a cover back onto a tin, as any moisture trapped inside can cause the container to rust.
I have numerous tins of tobacco that are square and rectangle, which I want to store in a way that will protect the tobacco from failure of the seal and allow it to continue to age gracefully. From what I understand, to preserve the aging process keeping the tobacco in the tin with the seal in place is the goal, but I know the seals on these non-round tins are bound to fail.
I have a common kitchen type vacuum sealer and both plastic and mylar storage bags. Should I place the unopened tins in bags and then vacuum seal the bags? I don't want to open the tins, and I wonder if this would create a perfect fail-safe: the tins safe in the bag to age, and if the seal should fail, they're still in another sealed container.
Does anyone do the tins-in-vacuum-sealed-mylar? Would tins in mylar without vacuum seal be better? Plastic bags work just as well? Any thoughts?
Thanks! I've done some searching here and haven't quite found exactly the answer I'm looking for. Apologies if this has been answered before.