Antique 1940s Black Hat Tin - World War Two Connection
Antique 1940s Black Hat Tin - World War Two Connection
This is a fabulous snippet of history, being a tin hat box which was likely to have belonged to a child evacuated from Guernsey ahead of the German occupation in 1940.
The hat box itself is a lovely decorative antique piece, the black paint on the outside having a weathered and worn appearance, with peeling and loss in a number of places. It is still in working order and the inside is a stunning rich blue colour. There are some areas of oxidisation but overall it is in fair condition.
The piece is more interesting because the original labels, setting out the owner's name and address, is still in tact.
On one side is a Guernsey address for J. Cullum, dated in March 1940. By June that year, it had become clear that the Channel Islands wouldn't be defended and so attempts were made to evacuate the population. Priority was given to school children, and it is likely that E. Cullum was a school child who was evacuated. Their address is given as being in Yate by the September of that year, and their initials were also painted onto the hat tin.
Length, 28cm; Width, 19cm; Height, 18.5cm to top of tin, 23cm to top of handle