Oyster Tin, Heyser’s Oysters
date: label: date made
content: 1920-1930
name: label: maker
content: Wm Heyser Co.
notes: label: Description
content: This gallon tin once contained fresh oyster meats packed by the Wm. Heyser Company. Established in 1871 between Pratt, Grant, and Ellicott Streets in Baltimore, the block became known as the “Heyser block” as the company grew.
label: Description
content: In 1906 the U.S. Congress passed several pure food laws in response to outbreaks of typhoid fever and gastrointestinal ailments linked to poor sanitation. Several new regulations were imposed on the oyster industry after contaminated oysters were blamed for serious illnesses. The laws required inspections of oyster beds and packing houses, as well as the identification of shellfish sources and standardized labeling.
label: Description
content: This tin probably dates to the period 1920-30, when colorful lithographed tins became popular. Heyser’s distinctive red tins featured a stylized H resting on an open oyster with the sun’s rays shining on a waterfront city certainly meant to be Baltimore. It includes the old-style bail handle, a feature that was phased out around this time in an effort to reduce manufacturing costs.
label: Description
content: Like many Baltimore oyster packers, Wm. Heyser explicitly addressed consumers’ fears about sanitation by emphasizing the clean conditions under which the oysters were handled and citing its compliance with the law. The reverse of the tin contains this message:
label: Description
content: “GUARANTEE / OYSTERS CONTAINED IN THIS CAN WERE PACKED IN THE MOST ADVANCED SANITARY MANNER TO MEET THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE PURE FOODS REGULATIONS
label: Description
content: Shucked Fresh From The Beds—CAUTION—Fresh oysters are perishable. This can must be kept in refrigerator or in contact with ice until contents are used.”
place: label: place made
content: United States: Maryland, Baltimore
topic: label: Subject
content: Fishing
label: related event
content: The Emergence of Modern America
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Food Technology
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content: Food
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content: Health & Medicine
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content: Advertising
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content: Work
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content: Industry & Manufacturing
label: Exhibition
content: On the Water
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
publisher: label: Related Publication
content: National Museum of American History. On the Water exhibition website
label: Related Web Publication
content: http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthewater
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2007.0087.01
label: catalog number
content: 2007.0087.01
label: accession number
content: 2007.0087
objectType: label: Object Name
content: oyster can
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: ferrous tinned (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 7 9/16 in x 6 11/16 in; 19.20875 cm x 16.98625 cm