At The Groves Antique Fair at the Orange County Great Park last week, I had a nice chat with a seller about his extensive display of old spice boxes, tins, and bottles. He had some as old as 1930s-era, but the familiar red-and-white McCormick tin, other than logo updates, hasn’t undergone any truly radical change over the decades.
I thought about that collection a couple of days later when I got a coincidental reality check from Laura Shute, owner of Savory Spice Shop in Corona del Mar. Do you have any McCormick tins in your spice cupboard? Shute points out that McCormick stopped making the tins more than 15 years ago. That’s some pretty old seasoning—though of course you may have been refilling over the years, keeping the charming container. And if that’s the case, you probably already know Savory Spice is the perfect place for that.
Either way, it might be time to refresh, and Savory Spice is offering a little incentive. Through the end of April, bring in an empty herb or spice jar from any competitor and get $1 off a bottle of Savory Spice of your choice. Shute’s calling it “Cash in Your Cupboard,” and reminds us that dried herbs last 8 months to a year, and ground spices and blends about a year. Whole spices like peppercorns and cinnamon sticks last longer, up to three years.
And if you do find some couple-decades-old McCormick tins lurking, bring them—and their contents—to an antique market, where they belong.
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