Blik Trommel en Oudheden Museum: packaging worth pausing over

A long museum room full of shelves with tins and boxes, with a table in the middle. — A look inside the museum.Photo: Frans Luinstra / Blik Trommel en Oudheden Museum · provided by the museum

A tin up close

With a piece of packaging, look beyond the brand. How are the colour, lettering and image arranged? And how does the tin open? Simple observations like these make it possible to compare two examples without already knowing their exact date.

Old shop tins labelled with names such as beschuit, speculaas, vanillinootjes and boterspritsen. — Shop tins for biscuits and rusks.Photo: Frans Luinstra / Blik Trommel en Oudheden Museum · provided by the museum

More than packaging

The tourist description also mentions farming and carpentry tools and an antiquities room. Ask which parts are available during your visit. You can use the change of scene to look at use afresh: what was an object meant to keep, protect or make possible?

A wall of colourful tins in rows on wooden shelves. — A wall full of tins.Photo: Frans Luinstra / Blik Trommel en Oudheden Museum · provided by the museum

Recognition and explanation

Perhaps you will recognise a tin or a dinner service, or perhaps not at all. Both are useful ways in. Say what strikes you and ask about its significance within the collection. A personal memory and an object’s provenance are different kinds of information.

Before you go

Get in touch in advance. The Friday hours stated vary by season and by source; an appointment avoids confusion.

Sources

This information has been compiled from public sources. Not everything has been confirmed by the museum itself; please check opening hours and prices on the museum's website.