Original 1900 Boer War Queen Victoria Fry & Rowntree chocolate tin.

In as good a condition for its age as we’ve ever seen with no dings, dents or buckles. Paintwork exceptionally good for its age with only rubbing and not sctratching.

It shuts and seals like it should.

This tin was given out by Queen Victoria to all of her soldiers in celebration of New Year’s, 1900. On the top of the box, under her portrait, are the words “I wish you a happy New Year”. Many soldiers appear to have kept theirs until the end of the war as a keepsake. Some even sent theirs home during the war to keep it safe, sometimes never to follow their boxes home. Indeed, sometimes after a soldier was killed in battle, their comrades would send whatever personal effects they could fit into the fallen soldier’s chocolate tin.

Queen Victoria commissioned Cadbury to create the tins, but the owners of Cadbury were Quakers, a group who are pacifists. So as not to refuse a commission from the Queen but also to prevent any accusations of supporting the war, the Cadbury owners invited two other prominent Quaker chocolate companies to join them, J. S. Fry and Rowntree. The companies did not want to put their logos onto the chocolate tins, but the Queen wanted to show that she was purchasing quality chocolate for her soldiers. They stamped their names on the chocolate bars. Each of the three chocolate companies had a different company produce their tins. This is a Rowntree tin, which is identifiable because of its size, the slant of Queen Victoria’s writing.