Museum curators in Canada have taken delivery of a very special 120-year-old tin can from Angus.
The county claimed a unique recycling record following the chance discovery of a Bowlby Bros tin, which had been filled with “choice winter apples” from Ontario.
The tin has now arrived at its Canadian town of origin and curator Melissa Collver posted this Youtube video showing its unpacking.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=PqY6IuO7kGQ%3Frel%3D0
It is now the centrepiece of a display in the very factory where the fruit was canned.
As we reported, Kirriemuir Heritage Trust chairman David Orr said museum bosses in Waterford, Ontario, were delighted to hear of the unusual find.
Ms Collver says in the video: “The Bowlby can has arrived from Kirriemuir, Scotland.”
She adds: “They’ve smashed the bottom out to get the contents; I guess they didn’t have a can opener.”
Brothers Russell and Arthur Bowlby bought the factory in Waterford in 1882 and it became the largest canning plant in Canada, employing 150 workers and producing up to one million cans of fruit and vegetables during a single packing season.
Canadian Canners bought Bowlby Bros & Co in 1903. The factory began canning pickles in 1936 and was affectionately known by locals as the pickle factory.
Canadian Canners closed the Waterford factory in 1983 and it reopened as a museum in 1985.