Cool Antique Store Find

[taharris]

So I was lurking around an antique store today looking for old pipes to refurbish when I ran across some cool old tobacco tins.

I picked one up to examine it and discovered that it was unopened!

So, I grabbed up these six tins of tobacco for a total of $22.00.

I have heard of St. Bruno and Dunhill Medium, but I have never heard of the others.

Can anyone shed some light on these old tins?

The seal on the St. Bruno was broken and the lid came off revealing a brick of bone dry flakes.
I have them re-hydrating now. I have done this before with good results.

And this one still has the key fixed to the bottom.

Todd

 

[gravel]

Looks like a fun find! :cheers:

 

[laherb]

I've had St. Bruno Flake. Excellent blend! I hope that it rehydrates well for you. I just finished a tin of Dunhill's STD. Med. Mixture from the mid 70's and was the finest English blend I have ever smoked. It was very well balanced blend, maybe because of the age. I was given half a tin of Flying Dutchman about a year ago. It was bone dry so I rehydrated it but it turned out to be rather bland. I'm thinking it had been open and dried for way too long. The others, I've never heard of.

Congrats on your find! I hope that one day I can stumble upon some old sealed tins for a hell of a price.

Here's a link for dating English tobacco tins, if you've never seen it before.

http://www.loringpage.com/attpipes/tobdatepaper.html


Abe

 

[taharris]

Thanks for that link.

Based on the information there the Dunhill tin is likely from around 1990.

Cool! 8)

Todd

 

[Carlos]

I have that same tin of Arrowhead. It's a burley blend. You will notice a nice fruity scent that will be fleeting when first opened. Apparently the club still exists.

That Dunhill will be a very good smoke. The Garfinkle is very desirable if memory serves me. Enjoy!

 

[Natch]

Good luck with re-hydrating the St. Brunos, it was a favorite of mine back when you could get it (easily!) in the U.S.

Natch

 

[monbla256]

That Garfinkel blend is one you will find to be a wonderfully smooth English blend. It was made for that tobacconist up in DC by Sobranie back when they were in business. I worked in DC for awhile back in the late 70's and bought 3 of their pipes from them at that time and used to smoke that blend. They closed up sometime in the 80's I believe. It was a nice "old school" tobacco shop and I have fond memories of it. Enjoy the Syrian Latakia that's in that blend, ya don't find much of that around anymore

 

[Richard Burley]

The Flying Dutchman, as stated on the tin, was a very pleasantly scented aromatic that I sometimes smoked back in the '70s or so. If memory serves, it was cut incredibly fine, and it always scorched my tongue. It could have been my technique, but this was the worst of them all back then--and I smoked Mixture No. 79 quite a bit, if that signifies anything. JMO.

The Dunhill Standard Medium was ubiquitous, and in any decent tobacconist's shop since forever. Don't they still offer it? I haven't been paying attention. I preferred the Dunhill Standard Mild, which was a bit harder to get. Then there was the Dunhill Standard Full, I believe. I gotta check on this, just for curiosity's sake--can't quite believe that these are no longer offered.

 

[Jers]

What a find - congratulations! :cheers:

Fraternally

Jers

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Good ol' junk store finds. :cheers: Nicely done.

8)

 

[Mr_Jeff]

I belong to the Arrowhead Pipe Club. The Arrowhead blend is still in production at Paul's Pipes in Flint, Mi and is their number one seller. That tin probably dates from as far back as the fifties, but if you contact the shop they may be able to narrow it down for you. It is an aromatic, as indicated. However, it is unlike any other aromatic. Tins of that vintage are still around the pipe shop and every now and then one is cracked open for the club for a special occasion. Paul's has been in business for 83 years and Paul himself will turn 100 this month. Yes, he was very young when he started his business. Paul's Pipes still blends and packages their own mixtures on site and many famous pipe smokers still have their personal recipes on file at the pipe shop.

 

[riff raff]

That Garfinkel blend is one you will find to be a wonderfully smooth English blend. It was made for that tobacconist up in DC by Sobranie back when they were in business. I worked in DC for awhile back in the late 70's and bought 3 of their pipes from them at that time and used to smoke that blend. They closed up sometime in the 80's I believe. It was a nice "old school" tobacco shop and I have fond memories of it. Enjoy the Syrian Latakia that's in that blend, ya don't find much of that around anymore

Richard Nixon was purported to enjoy Garfinkel blends.

 

[Briar Spirit]

Cooorrr, that St.Bruno will prove to be lovely I don't doubt, envy you on that find chap, if it doesn't take too well to light re-hydrating just throw it in with a batch of Dark Flake, the moisture will cross over, the combination of the two is surprisingly good.

 

[friar_jay]

What a great find.

 

[taharris]

I belong to the Arrowhead Pipe Club. The Arrowhead blend is still in production at Paul's Pipes in Flint, Mi and is their number one seller. That tin probably dates from as far back as the fifties, but if you contact the shop they may be able to narrow it down for you. It is an aromatic, as indicated. However, it is unlike any other aromatic. Tins of that vintage are still around the pipe shop and every now and then one is cracked open for the club for a special occasion. Paul's has been in business for 83 years and Paul himself will turn 100 this month. Yes, he was very young when he started his business. Paul's Pipes still blends and packages their own mixtures on site and many famous pipe smokers still have their personal recipes on file at the pipe shop.

That is really cool. I think I will contact him just to see what I can learn.

Thank you for the information.

Todd

 

[taharris]

Cooorrr, that St.Bruno will prove to be lovely I don't doubt, envy you on that find chap, if it doesn't take too well to light re-hydrating just throw it in with a batch of Dark Flake, the moisture will cross over, the combination of the two is surprisingly good.

Actually, the St. Bruno tin had a broken seal and the tobacco inside was dry as a bond and hard as a brick.

I gently separated the flakes and have been slowly re-hydrating for the last couple of days.

I had a bowl this morning. It reminds me a lot of Best Brown #2.

It is a nice smooth smoke with just a hint of Lakeland essence.

Wonderful stuff. This makes me want to get a new tin and compare.

Todd