Well I'm chuffed !

[Steve Bryant]

Hi all,
 I'm chuffed!  I went to a military collectors club swap meet and show Saturday and found this delightful 2.5 liter oil container for $10 Canadian !  It should make a nice addition to the kit for the Seven van I'm thinking. The container  is all tin construction soldered together, measuring  9" long by 3 " wide by 6 1/2 " high. 

From the spelling on the embossed label I suspect the tin is of German origin. If any of you can throw some light on this I would appreciate hearing from you.
Any suggestions for colour when repainting it?
Cheers,
Stephen

[Bob Culver]

Looks either very old or, if it were not for the label which may just be soldered on, home made, the sort of thing a plumber would have made, esp as looks like galvanised iron.
The SAE stencil would not go back beyond the mid 1950s, but could have been added at any time.

[Management]

Hi Steven,

I found this in the net, looks similar to yours, especially the way the handle is mounted.
Those were sold on ebay as "swiss army oil canisters".

   

So you might have got an early version of those, because of the way they are soldered.
Hope, that helps and doesn't destroy anything...  

Kind regards

[Ian Williams]

I think it is lovely and would keep it just the way it is Steve, I have a very similar but smaller can that held Machine gun oil!

[Duncan Grimmond]

I'd suggest it is older than it may appear. The base and top are of a "knocked-up" form typical of early tinsmith workshops at the turn of the last century. The handle is of the same style and the neatly formed interior locked joint is also typical of the days when things like this were made by hand in small factories. The Sirram(B'ham) range of early tinware for picnic sets was pretty much all hand made either in small out-work back kitchens or tinsmith workshops in Birmingham using the same forming techniques. There were many small metal workshops doing piece-work all round Birmingham and the Black Country and I was lucky enough to find a few of the remaining ones when I was at college there in the 1970's
If the can is US or Canadian made it is likely to be in the same vein.

Yow gerra bit o woyre
yow stick it in the foyre
yow pullir out an givvit a clout
an yow gorra nayel

[orbiter418]

I'd suggest it is older than it may appear. The base and top are of a "knocked-up" form typical of early tinsmith workshops at the turn of the last century. The handle is of the same style  and the neatly formed interior locked joint is also typical of the days when things like this were made by hand in small factories. The Sirram(B'ham) range of early tinware for picnic sets was pretty much all hand made either in small out-work back kitchens or tinsmith workshops in Birmingham using the same forming techniques. There were many small metal workshops doing piece-work all round Birmingham and the Black Country and I was lucky enough to find a few of the remaining ones when I was at college there in the 1970's
If the can is US or Canadian made it is likely to be in the same vein.

Yow gerra bit o woyre
yow stick it in the foyre
yow pullir out an givvit a clout
an yow gorra nayel

I reckon you've nailed it , Duncan 

Merv