Biscuit tin

Invented by Huntley & Palmers in 1831,[1] they are commonly found in households in Great Britain, Ireland, and Commonwealth countries,[2] but also in continental Europe and French Canada.

The British biscuit tin came about when the Licensed Grocer's Act 1861[dubious – discuss] allowed groceries to be individually packaged and sold.

The new process of offset lithography, patented in 1877, allowed multicoloured designs to be printed onto elaborately shaped tins.

[1] A decorated biscuit tin was commissioned in 1868 by Huntley & Palmers from the London firm of De La Rue to a design by Owen Jones.

It consists of bringing a sheet of rubber into contact with the decorated stone, and then setting-off the impression so obtained upon the metal surface.

Thus the elaborately embossed, colourful designs that were such a feature of the late Victorian biscuit tin industry became technically possible.

The advent of the Second World War stopped all production of decorative tin ware and after it ended in 1945, the custom did not enjoy the same popularity as before.

The New Zealand Parliament has a biscuit tin, bought in the 1980s, from which numbered counters are drawn out to randomly introduce new member's bills.