Empty ham tin, just in time for Thanksgiving...

DH can't believe I'm selling this. Empty ham tin. It has a bid already. ($14.99)

There were a few others sold on Ebay, so thought I'd give it a shot.

 

Empty?! Was it a store "prop?"

 

i once bought a 6 pack of kleenex....one box was sealed...with nothing inside..!

 

Opened and ham removed I'm guessing. Someone kept the tin for some reason. Graphics look to be late 70's or so.

I've never opened a tin of ham before. Was thinking that is what happened, at least. Or?

Here is another one, different brand, sold:

www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-1970-80s-Hormel-3lb-Canned-Ham-Tin-Litho-Retro-Advertising-Kitchen-Can-/142158395019?hash=item21194cf68b:g:g2EAAOSwn7JYDSRc#cvip_desc

 

MT...but opened.....I guess

 

Bakers, now you've got me wondering... Is it possible to open a ham can, remove the ham, and close the can again so it would look like this?

(Or might it be a store display?) It never occurred to me! My husband just thought it was funny that it had a bid.

 

When I was a kid, I had an elderly great aunt who used to love those tinned hams. My sisters & I used to fight over who'd get to open the can for her.

Way-back-then, they came with a "key" (like old coffee cans) that you used to remove the lid. The key was usually attached to the bottom of the can.

You'd break off the key, then hook it onto a small tab on the side of the can. You had to use the key to remove and wind (around the key) a very sharp, maybe 1/4 to 1/2 inch wide, strip of metal from the can, all the way around.

This left a lot of bloody fingers, I'm sure, but it also left a "lid" (with an extremely sharp edge!) that you could place back on the empty can. (The can itself also ended up with a very sharp edge, all the way around.)

Lucille, is your empty can like that?

 

The plot thickens! Bloody fingers, sounds like a Halloween costume!

Two more photos. Don't know if these will help. I'm going to be away from the computer until tomorrow am, will see if there are other responses when I'm back online. Thanks, all!

 

You can see on the bottom where the key was, and the little tab on the side where you'd fit the key, so it appears to be unopened.

Must be a store display item, I imagine if you collected packaging it would be a hard item to find and have some value.

I used to eat that sort of tinned ham myself around 1970 because it needed absolutely no preparation. Not that size though, much smaller.

 

Now you have me hankering for some ham steaks.

 

I believe it has been opened or you probably wouldn't see that +-3/32" line around it about 1/2" up in the bottom photo.
If you push in below it, away from a 'corner', it should open a gap.
They were good, as were coffee cans and such, in the garage/basement for storage of hardware and other stuff.

 

THat has not been opened. There is no way to put the tear off strip back like that.

 

There is a depressed gap from the missing strip which is why there is an uneven dark line showing.

 

Interesting! Was just sharing this (as I felt it was kind of a joke) and maybe the joke was on me! If an advertising piece, would not have guessed that, but who knows! Or, could be opened in a different way, too. I'll take another look. There are no sharp edges, and I hadn't opened it in any way, but let me take another look with it in the hand, now that I'm up for the day...

 

I see what King is saying, but then how on earth would you possibly ever get it back so smoothly IF it had been opened

 

Nope, not possible. Is the "key" still attached on the back?

Edit: I just jumped down here and missed the other pictures. The place for the key is there, but no key. And the tab that the key goes over to start the removal of the strip (and the strip itself) are still intact. Very weird.

 

They do slip back because they are ever so slightly larger than the main section. Over time they can stick very tightly together.

 

The key is missing in the last photo.........
And so is the winding tab.
A missing key does not necessarily mean it was opened but no winding tab...............

 

No key, yes winding tab, keep reading.

Full disclosure. I've been a vegetarian for the last 30 years. Probably why all of this is such a mystery to me!

I can honestly say I've never opened one of these ham tins in my life, just went out to examine it again...

Of course I have it in the hand, a luxury the people on the board do not.

In principal maybe could have been fitted together, but I don't think this one has. DH noticed the "pull tab" still intact. Perhaps an advertising piece after all --maybe why I was attracted to it as a vegetarian...?

 

Where is the tab? I never saw it.