Tinware

Tinware is any item made of prefabricated tinplate. Usually tinware refers to kitchenware made of tinplate, often crafted by tinsmiths. Many cans used for canned food are tinware as well. Something that is tinned after being shaped and fabricated is not considered tinware.

Tinware is strong, easily shaped, solder able, and is non-toxic. In addition, it has a good appearance which can be further enhanced by lacquering it. Of extreme importance is its property of corrosion resistance, especially against attack by food products. These properties are due to the properties of tinplate, as tinware is made of tinplate.

Tinplate originated in Bohemia in the Middle Ages. Sources differ as to when this happened, ranging from the late thirteenth century to the fourteenth century. The technique for how to make tinplate spread to nearby regions of Germany, and by the sixteenth century Germany was the only source of tinplate in Europe. Tinsmiths throughout Europe were dependent on German suppliers of tinplate, and when events such as the Thirty Years War interrupted tinplate production, tinwares became much more expensive. This caused many European nations, including Great Britain, to attempt to start tinplate manufacturing industries.

Successful creation of a non-German tinplate industry was hampered by both technical difficulties and the cheapness of German tinplate. Though there was a widely acclaimed expedition by Andrew Yarranton assisted in the transfer of technical knowledge, it was not until innovations like the water-powered rolling mill founded by Major Hanbury in 1728 that a successful English tinplate industry was created.

Tinplate became a British dominated industry until 1890, with an output exceeding 13 million boxes of plate, of which 70% were exported to the United States. This may help explain why the United States passed the McKinley Tariff bill, which placed a tariff of 2.2 cents per pound on tinplate. After this tariff, and with other causes, the US tinplate industry became the largest in the world.

Tinware production in the United States is widely acclaimed to have started when a Scottish immigrant named Edward Pattison settled in Berlin, Hartford Country, Connecticut. His tinware goods became extremely popular due to their ease of use and ease of cleaning, and to help fulfill tinware orders he took on apprentices, which later made Berlin, Connecticut, the center of tinware manufacturing in the American Colonies.

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