This is a harder-to-find and better-quality souvenir from the British Empire Exhibition of 1924.
The British Empire Exhibition was held in Wembley from 1924-25, attracting over 25 million visitors and attracting many to move to the northwest London suburbs.
This toffee tin was issued to advertise Maison Lyons (J. Lyons & Co. Ltd / London W14) - as annotated on the sides. The lid has a view of the Palace of Industry at the Exhibition site. In the foreground of my tin is the artificial lake and the bridge - this was an extremely populat feature with visitors to the show.
The main architects of the exhibition were Maxwell Ayrton and Owen Williams.
The Palace of Industry occupied 10 acres of the site. It was made up of several internal halls, all enclosed with glazed pitched roods. The building was pre-cast concrete which was reinforced and them painted. It also had applied channels to resemble stonework. It was the first building in Britain to use concrete for external as well as internal support. The Palace of Industry survived for near 90 years - and was demolished in 2013. The only building to survive was the Indian Pavilion (without its magnificent dome) and this is now a carpet warehouse.
MAISON LYONS: J. Lyons & Co. was a restaurant chain store and food manufacturing business. It was founded in 1884. The first teashop opened in Picadilly, London in 1894. From 1909 they became a chain of popular teashops and their premises became a staple of the UK High Street. At its peak, Maison Lyons had around 200 cafes.
My souvenir toffee tin is in relatively fine condition given this is now officially an antique item. The image is still strong with no fading to the colour- and there are no nasty scratches or dents. The silvered interior has oxidised over the last 100 years - as to be expected. The hinge is present and works well. The tin lid closed nice and tight.
I love this old tin. These old souvenir tins from early 20th-century exhibitions are now highly collectable. I haven't found another with this design on it for Maison Lyons - so it is quite a rare item. This is reflected in my asking price for it. It looks better in "real life" than in my photographs.
Dimensions: 14 x 8 x 4.5 cm
UK Posting will be with Royal Mail Recorded Post. This will cost £4.95 and applied to your order at the checkout.