TRAIN TIME: Ian Logan Associates Ltd - The Fleece Inn, Bretforton, Worcestershire - English Biscuit Tin

The west (left) side of the Hornby layout has a small farm scene and while I really enjoy this scene, it was difficult has heck to find a small tin-litho English countryside looking house in exactly the style I had envisioned. This particular house came up on fleaBay and it pretty much had the right look and right size, so I snatched it up. This style of cookie/biscuit/candy/sweets tin is common both in the UK and here in the States and in the past the blog has featured quite a few of these. The common design feature among them is a lid made to represent the roof and the roof nearly always has the same basic shape.  

After looking on the bottom of the tin, it appears as if this might be a stylized version of a historic inn in England. Under the base is the following:

Ian Logan Associates Ltd

The Fleece Inn, Bretforton, Worcestershire,

The National Trust Made in England

Here's a photo culled from the inn's website of the real Fleece Inn. It's an 'L'-shaped building and is much larger than the tin version.

Check out the photos on their website at the following link: https://thefleeceinn.co.uk/gallery/

What a gorgeous place!! WOW!

Photos on their website show they offer a range of souvenirs so I wonder if this was a specially made souvenir sold at the Fleece Inn?

What's nice about this piece is that not only does have that English countryside charm, it also the right size for the location on the layout. In addition, there are no markings on the tin to show that it's an inn, or pub, or any other kind of business, so it can be used as a house quite comfortably.. The tin measures 4 7/8" (12.38cm) W x 3 1/8" (7.93cm) D x 3 3/4" (9.52cm) H

Enjoy! Opa Fritz

Parein Biscuit Tin 2

W-a-y back on Dec 10, 2010 Toys & Stuff featured a terrific Parein Biscuit Tin with "Parein Biscuits" store front graphics. Parein is a well known Belgium bakery and, like other European bakeries, used to sell their wares in wonderfully decorated tins. Most often the tins were in fanciful shapes but every so often they would be designed to look like structures. The nifty aspect to all this is that they are generally just the right size to display along with 3-rail O-gauge trains making them perfect for Märklin, Bing, or Hornby train layouts.

Today, we're working our way back to Parein with this vintage tin decorated as a combination European farm house and barn. Now, my American readers may think this a whimsical use of graphics, combining a barn and a house all in one, but in point of fact this is not an uncommon arrangement in many parts of the world. I know this from first hand experience as our first apartment in Mittelbach, Germany was one of those. We lived in the bottom street level apartment which at one time was the barn! Out back was the hof, or courtyard, and the landlords lived in the upper floors. The building was right on the main street and back in the day the cows would have been herded right onto main street and into the nearby fields. So without further ado, let's take a look at this wonderful vintage biscuit tin. Enjoy!

Big Lots 2011 Christmas Cookie Tin - Town Hall

Well, Christmas is over but we still have one more Big Lots Cookie Tin to show. These look great under the Christmas tree or simply as terrific displays that can stay up all winter long. Enjoy!

Big Lots 2011 Christmas Cookie Tin - Post Office

Today we feature the third cookie tin from Big Lots Christmas 2011 Tin Village, the Post Office. These really are terrific tins for the cookie/biscuit tin collector! Everybody Enjoy it from Bettina & Fritz Berg :)

Big Lots 2011 Christmas Cookie Tin - General Store

This week Toys & Stuff looks at the second Big Lots 2011 Christmas Cookie Tin, the General Store. The graphics on these tins resemble a small town so it's appropriate that a General Store, versus a Supermarket, be a featured tin. Oh, BTW - the cookies are good! We Enjoyed it:)