Tin Tales - Collection complete

Yes, I have bought a Fry’s 1900 Queen Victoria Boer War chocolate tin. Yes, I paid more for it than I paid for either the Rowntree’s or Cadbury’s tins, but I was comfortable with the price and it completes the set.

Top - Cadbury's
Middle - Rowntree's
Bottom - Fry's

In case you haven’t read any of my previous posts on the subject, I became interested in the gift tins ent by the Royal Family to members of the Armed Forces during both the First World War and the Boer War. Queen Victoria decided in 1899 that she wanted to send a gift to each soldier, NCO and officer serving in South Africa in the Second Boer War. The gift would take the form of ½ lb of finest British chocolate in a presentation tin. She originally commissioned Cadbury’s. They, being a quaker firm, did not want to profit from war, but a commission from Queen Victoria was a difficult one to refuse.In the end, they shared the commission with fellow quaker firms Fry’s and Rowntree’s. The three firms would donate the chocolate, while Victoria would pay for the making of the tins and the shipping to South Africa. The firms refused to put their names or logos on the tins, although Victoria insisted that the firm’s name would be stamped on the chocolate, so that her boys would know she was sending them the best British chocolate.

Each firm used its own manufacturer to make the tins. They all followed the same design, but there are differences to be seen between the tns used by the three manufacturers. And this is why I now have three tins and not just the one. The collector’s gene compels me.

Now, the three tins are in different conditions, so I won’t point out any of the differences in shade of colour because this could just be a matter of condition. But here’s a few of the features of difference between the tins.

The most obvious difference which you can see from the photo of all 3 tins is that the Cadbury’s tin is slightly longer and slightly narrower than the others. The Rowntree’s and Fry’s have almost identical proportions to each other.

The medallions of Queen Victoria in the centre of the tins help us to distinguish.

Rowntree's

Fry's

Cadbury's

Now, try to ignore the fact that each of these as a different amount of gilding remaining. If you look at the top photo of the 3, the Rowntree’s tin, close up, you can see that the beads around the edge are almost square, compared to the beads on the middle photo the Fry’s tin. These are more oval and slightly bigger. I’m not suggesting you should count them, but if you did you’d see there are more beads on the Fry’s. On the bottom photo of the Cadbury’s tin you can see that the beads are small, but there is a prominent raised and bevelled edge around them.

If you look at the black ovals I have drawn on the first two photographs, they highlight that the image of the Queen on the Fry’s tin is much closer to the beading than it is on the Rowntree’s tin. The Cadbury’s is close to the beading too.

Each tin bears a printed message of New Year’s good wishes with Queen Victoria’s signature.

Rowntree's

Fry's

Cadbury's

Comparing the signatures on the Rowntree and Fry tins, the most obvious difference is that the signature on the Rowntree’s slants upwards. As for the Cadbury’s, the signature appears smaller and more compact.

Well, that's it. The collection is now complete and the collector's gene should be satisfied.