Treasures From The Tin

Treasures From The Tin

Every now and then I throw caution to the wind and open up a long-ignored tin or box just to see what's in there. Generally I note the contents and put the lid back on, repeating the process about five years later.

Today my eye was draw by a rather attractive tin decorated with assorted flora and fauna, that used to contain Clotted Cream Fudge made by Bristow's of Devon.

Thankfully, there was no sign of any festering fudge left in the corners, but there was a bewildering collection of assorted badges inside. I remember owning the badges, but where some of them came from is a bit of a mystery, though the ones from Wookey Hole ('You'll Be Witched!') and Gold Hill, Shaftesbury (where the famous adverts for 'Hovis' bread were filmed) make their origins fairly obvious.

The McCoy era 'Doctor Who' and 'Star Trek' ones aren't in bad nick, all things consisdered, though the 'Powellie (The Controller With A Problem)'  one is starting to show its age. This one was made for the 'Viz'-style fanzine 'Weird' from the 'Star Begotten' stable and is apparently quite rare these days!

Actually, the 'Star Trek' one has caused some head-scratching as to where it came from. It's been suggested it came with a VHS release as a freebie, but I've no memory, apart from knowing that I wore it on my lab coat in the 1990s, along with some of the others.

To have two badges related to 'South Park's Mister Hankey (The Christmas Poo) is probably overdoing it, but the JVC one is quite strange, too. The bird-like figure on it is holding a football, so we premuse it's to do with the World Cup or something - 'Official Hi-Fi, TV & Video Systems' it claims.

And let us not ignore the cheery Snowman badge, whose eyes once lit up, but the tiny round batteries were drained years ago.

Oh well, back in the tin they go...

Don't forget to come back in five years time to see if they've rusted away...

(Written by Andrew Trowbridge)