kerosine tins

From the beginning of the 20th century petroleum products, mainly kerosine for lamps, were distributed in tins that held 4 imperial gallons (about U.S. gallons). The tins stood about 14 inches high, with a footprint 10 inches square. The closure was a press cap, sometimes a screw cap. Sometimes the tins were packed in boxes of two tins.

The largest markets for kerosine in this packaging lay in Africa, the Middle East, India and Asia. Because it was cheaper to transport the kerosine in bulk carriers, tins were manufactured and filled at dozens of ports, near the final consumers.

To keep costs down, many of the purchasers being poor, the tins were designed for easy manufacture from a minimum of materials, not for durability. Yet they were recycled endlessly in the consuming countries, often becoming the basis of a unit.

The lack of ruggedness was especially apparent in North Africa during World War II, when British soldiers replaced the fragile tins carrying fuel for their tanks with captured, rugged, German containers. The British nickname for the Germans was “Jerrys,” and their container became known as a jerrican.