Has anyone here ever heard of a c1880 Old Pop Smith tobacco tin? Dimensions 4 1/2" wide x 3 3/8" deep x 1 3/4" tall


Below is part of the elaboration on this interesting tin I excerpted from my site

I first saw an Old Pop Smith tin about twenty years ago, pictured in a 1986 edition of a book titled: Tobacco Tins and Their Prices, by Al Bergevin. The crossed baseball bats and the bearded old timer sitting in the chair seemed to echo a civil war connection, but I've never learned that for sure. The flags with the "Y'" clearly imply Yale since the tobacco company M. Zunder & Sons was located in New Haven Connecticut. To the left and right of the word "mixture" are football goal posts, below it is a baseball. The bats have "squared barrel" ends (sawed of look), which date them to the 1880's.

For twenty years I kept an eye out, but never saw a single Old Pop Smith tin. I put it in my eBay permanent search to be notified if it ever surfaced. Very early A.M., the week of.......

You can read the whole story about this tin at my site http://www.sportsantiques.com . Just click the "See what's new" link at the top of my home page. Recently I located the history of it, of which I posted a copy of the original New York Times newspaper clipping from Nov. 10, 1890.

edited scan size

Carlton... What an amazing piece! I bet it was thrilling to see this one turn up. This would have to be the oldest sports-related tobacco tin that I am aware of.

Have you ever encountered another Baseball-themed Tin as old as this? Thanks for sharing!

Pop Smith was the Yale mascot. As an Oxford man I wouldn't
give this tobacco the time of day.

Mark,
Thanks for the kind words! Good question if it's the oldest sports tobacco tin...might be come to think of it.

David,
Actually the Yale mascot was a bull dog named Handsome Dan, of which there is a tobacco tin...I have it but can't recall where it is...there have been a whole line of Handsome Dans over the years.

Well of course if you're an Oxford man you'd have no use for Old Pop Smith tobacco...you and Bill Clinton...you'd probably beat it with your cricket paddles....or bats or what ever they call um

I know of the bulldog. Not related to the MLB player, Pop Smith was the Yale super
fan in the 1800s. He was considered something a sports mascot as he an elderly man
who attended nearly every Yale sporting event.

David, You really knew who Old Pop Smith was?? It took me all kinds of research!!! How did you know? Are you from around New Haven? You the man! I lucked out and caught a quick reference to Pop Smith Little League in New Haven and followed it ! I tell you untill recently there wasn't reference to him on the web

Mark, Did you get my re-forwarded email yet?

Carlton...

Something must be wrong with Yahoo Mail, as it still hasn't come across. You can try my other (work) email... Msteinberg@kraft.com

They have been known to occasionally "block" emails of the personal, non-business variety, so hope it gets thru this time!

Mark,
OK, done!

Mark, I forgot to mention there is another cool c1880 sports tin, a multi sport tin called CHYP...It is a very undervalued tin in the Tins market...great graphics...lotta bang for the buck

you can see more shots of it it on my home page
http://www.sportsantiques.com/
click on the eBay Search link at right top, then scroll down...you'll see it.

Actually there is one being auctioned on eBay currently, by my friend Tom Cardiopoli, eBay handle "walnutts"...below the link to it:
http://cgi.ebay.com/1893-IVY-LEAGUE-C-H-Y-P-TOBACCO-TIN-BASEBALL-FOOTBALL_W0QQitemZ280171710916QQihZ018QQcategoryZ38053QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Wow... you aren't kidding, Carlton. That Tin is gorgeous, and appears to be way under-valued. This current one on Ebay is doing better than the one posted on your site. I cannot believe that piece could sell for under $100. Thanks for showing us this cool Tin!

"The student's solace."

David, Now it's coming together...you and Bill Clinton came upon my Old Pop Smith tin and were batting it back and forth....that explains the condition

Actually, Clinton also went to Yale, where he met Hilary. I believe a member
of the Net54 board had him as a law professor.

of the CHYP tin. It never appreciates and typically sells in the 150. - 225. range as it has for 10 years. Same tin maker as the OP. The Pop tin spectacular of course. Carlton I believe we have done business before. Hello. Good to see you are still into tobacco "stuff".

I wonder if there will come a time the CHYP, (which I've always understood to mean Columbia, Harvard, Yale Princeton) catches fire and goes for big money. It just closed in that eBay auction for $336.00., which is nothing compared to it's quality. I remember the first one I saw was 20 years ago in a Leland's for sale ad...back when Josh ran the ads for them in SCD. I recall calling him on the pay phone at work once to get him to fax me the list before it got published, but he siad it wouldn't be fair.

Bt the way, I found a photo of the Handsome Dan tin,

it's in an old line up of my tins seen above, at bottom right. I've since had to take it out as I've gotten more sports related ones. If you want to see some of the world's best tins, see my Tins Page linked below.
http://www.sportsantiques.com/tins.htm

I like that Red Sox whiskey bottle. Very nice display Carlton.

The C in CYHP is Cornell. Cornell's colors are red and white, while Colombia is blue. There's no question the flags are for the Ivy League schools.

Pigskin..... very sad I sold mine to Josh.... I have a home for it if you get tired of it....

1880nonsports, No way..really? wow I don't hear of many...I saw a wiped out one on eBay maybe a couple years ago, and that's it. Someone told me there was only 7 or so known...Do you have a photo of it? Give me the lowdown...How much did you sell it for? How long ago? I don't recall ever seeing one in a Leland's auction....facts please facts!!!

David, Thanks for clearing that up on the C for Cornell....so what is it you quietly collect? I have a tin photo for you...saw this on eBay many moons ago...it's of the Oxford Cambridge boat race..for some reason I don't have a full shot of it just the close-ins..I recall it was only about 7-8" wide...I bid enough to choke a reindeer as I recall and got blown out. It's just as well, I don't know what I was thinking...I really shouldn't be paying serious money for an English Tin...then again it is a great tin.

If I am not mistaken you were writing an article for SCD about the National 3/4 years ago? We met at my friend Glenn Mechanick's table (mostly 19th century cards/mem./cdv's). Think you bought a German sports tin then? In any event greetings. Yes I had the tin. I bought it from a tin dealer that bought it on eBay. I got him to sell it to me for 50. or so above what he paid BEFORE he even took delivery! It was nicer in person although a bit soft. Sold it to Josh at one of the Nationals. Wouldn't be right to disclose the price but I made a good profit. I don't have occasion to think about it much - but when I do I miss it. Oh well. I'm sure I bought something nice eventually with the $ or lost it at the crap table. Such is life. When i sell something special out of my collection I like to replace it with something else - preferably 2 things

Yes I was covering the 03' National for SCD, I vagualy recall meeting someone at Glen's table...Yes I got a European multi-sport tin which I still have, it's huge like 12 3/4" wide, photo below (you can see more photos of it on my site at this link:
http://www.sportsantiques.com/2003_national_page_3.htm

Please clarify your term "soft" QUOTE "It was nicer in person although a bit soft." UNQUOTE: I wouldn't mind know what you got if you want to email me direct....I won't put it on CNN or anything.

Sorry to bump this old thread but in case anyone is interested, I know of a Handsome Dan tin available for sale for $350 (not sure the value of it). I'd be happy to point anyone in the right direction if interested... just email me.

As a disclaimer, I have no connection to the seller or the tin, nor am I deriving any profit from a sale. I just happened to come across it in my never-ending search for cigarette packs!

I sold a Handsome Dan tin on ebay about 4-5 months ago and it only went for $60...it was nearly immaculate in condition as well. They just don't bring the same kind of money as the Old Pop Smith tins do.

Thanks Dan - I'd be the first to admit I have no clue as to value of these. Just wanted to pass the info along in case anyone was interested. On a similar note, I also came across a really interesting 1880's tobacco tin from McGill University with a football scene on the front...

Now that could be an interesting piece. I'm sure Carlton knows much more about it...I've not heard of or seen one.

Here you go...