OYSTER CANS / TINS
Oyster Tins: A Half-Shell Story
by Mike Reilly
Ever since I attended the antique show inIndianapolis last September, I’ve been wanting to tell you about the “oyster tinman” I saw there. Along a wall booth, spread out everywhere, with lots of shelvingwas a gentleman selling tins. My first reaction was that I should be able to find somechip tins here, but after looking around, I found them all to be oyster tins. Dozens anddozens, perhaps several hundred.
I chatted briefly with the man who said heoriginally had over a thousand different oyster tins. The choicest ones had been soldalready but he still had 700-800 left to sell. I walked away chalking the encounter up asanother one of those, “I didn’t know there were so many differentoyster tins stories.”
Driving home from Indy, I thought tomyself, “Why didn’t I get his name and telephone number?” Hindsight is great.His collecting activity would have made a great story to tell you. ME DUMMY! You don’talways think straight when your carrying around bags of old potato chip tins is my onlydefense.
The encounter haunted me for weeks, then Iattended a local antique show and while handing out promotional flyers chanced across abook I hadn’t heard of before.
Guess the title?
“Oyster Cans with Price Guide” written by Jim and Vivian Karsnitz.
Paperback. Published by Schiffer Publishing, Ltd. Publicationdate: June 1993, ISBN: 0887404626
I don’t know if the oyster tin man I metbriefly at the Indy show had anything to do with this book’s publication, but hiscollection probably could have been a book all by itself. Authors Jim & VivianKarsnitz readily admit that to keep the book manageable they limited the photos to oneexample of a brand, not listing all sizes. If you total up the number of brands they havelisted, there’s about 400 examples of tins shown.
Besides covering oyster tins, they getinto some collectible go-withs such as shucking knives and tokens, revenue stamps,shipping and store items, and other paper items like labels, advertisements, andstationary. Glass bottles and stoneware jugs are also included. If you collect otherseafood tins like crabmeat, lobster, shrimp, etc., they show a number of examples.
In the book’s Foreword, the authorsmention how their enthusiasm for sporting antiques led them to this specialized collectingarea. They say “Cans and tools of the oyster trade are used by some decoy collectorsas “go-withs”, spicing up the display of their collections”. Maybesome duck hunter or decoy collector can tell me how the oyster trade and collecting duckdecoys go together?
Chapter 1 contains information about theoyster industry, the canning of oyster and notabledevelopments in the development of tincan packaging and preservation. Much of the general information can be found in a numberof other book. Some information about Maryland can manufacturers, particularly inBaltimore, is the first that I’ve seen though.
Reading the book, that amounts to aboutsix pages of text, my notion of oysters being gathered up by Pacific island natives wasquickly dispelled. It also made me think of the Gulf of Mexico containing more than justForrest Gump’s shrimp or that New Englanders eat more than lobster. It’s amazing howwatching movies influences your outlook on the world.
Some notable oyster trade developments:
1819 – Oysters first packed in New York
1840-49: Oyster packing in tins becoming big business in Baltimore,MD.
1851 – Term “hermetically sealed oysters” introduced.
Mid-1880’s : Oyster packing moves to the southern Gulf states
1915 – Biloxi, Mississippi surpasses Baltimore in oyster canning.
1931 – Oysters are being canned on the west coast at Puget Sound,Washington.
If you have any interest in this area, getthe book. Even though the amount of text information is limited, there’s some good stuff.With any book, study the photos and illustrations for information. If you’re like me,these can provide solid information or clues for research. The book isn’t cheap,$29.95, and that’s thru Amazon. Check Chapter 1 of the my internet book’s “BookStore” to order. I found mine at an antique mall for the same price, haven’t seen itpriced any lower.