TOTAL CHAMPION!
Jawdropping & eyepopping!
Thanks so much for sharing photos of these tins,
I've never seen the old Hoggarth ones and I'd always reckoned they sold mostly loose or packet baccies,
lovely designs they are!
Interestingly, GH&Co. inherited the Beacon Light trademark from the makers they bought out and took over in 1887, Messrs Noble and Wilson - the older firm had started making Beacon Light in 1854 - GH&Co decided to use the Beacon Light emblem as their trademark upon foundation since the brand was already so well-known. The emblem is a representation of the battlemented top of a watchtower surmounted by a flaming brazier with its helmeted attendant... (but as Jezmond pointed out, the author should have noted that it is indeed Kendal Castle --- also depicted on current-made tins of Commonwealth Mixture by Samuel Gawith)
...how in the hell could I know that?
Well,
there is a great and definitive book on the subject, and goes in depth with much detail,
it is very much worth owning a copy,
should be easy and cheap to find for you guys over there...
Illingworth is also part of the book,
another old interesting Kendal maker.
Both of the Gawith houses are extremely popular in the States (although some of the floral scented stuff is polarizing, some love it, some despise it) and they hold the distinction of being the only contemporary manufacturers of pipe tobacco MADE IN ENGLAND and that's a great thing.
JF Germain is on the Isle of Jersey so I don't really count them as England,
should I?
Here's a little S. Gawith history, with some links to factory tour pictures:
http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/samuel-gawith-interview-what-would-you-ask
Squadron Leader is still a top seller this very day,
in fact, a couple of months ago there was a special release from an American pipeshop,
the mixture included perique and 2,000 tins were made and it sold out quite quickly.
A thread on the subject:
http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/squadron-leader-with-perique-1/page/2
Many pipesmokers here "cellar" baccy due to the ever-impending tobacco apocalypse as seen everywhere else in the world,
so we're buying a lot before the prices spike, currently we pay on average about £6 per 50 grams...
http://www.smokingpipes.com/tobacco/by-maker/samuel-gawith/index.cfm
And,
here's a more general thread discussing the "lakeland essence" as the Gawith scented baccies over here are known as "Lakelands",
it gets a bit haywire and off topic,
but a fun read...
http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/lakelands-an-attempt-to-understand-the-famous-gawith-scents
Stunning to see these tins!!!
They seem pretty scarce.
Were they distributed nation-wide?
Or were they more of a regional player?
Regardless,
I'm so glad they survived and actually still exist.
