Between the 1920s and 1950s, nearly all condoms were sold in small tin containers that held three condoms. Some of these tins are quite colorful and graphic; others are rather plain. Whatever they look like, they have two things in common:
- They have a solid collector base always searching for the harder to find ones
- They were made by a large number of companies providing a wide variety of tins
These tins have been collected for several years so you’re not going to find examples of even the more common ones that often. However, when you run across a harder to find example, in many cases it will be priced well below it’s actual value providing you with an opportunity to make a handsome profit.
As with all collectible items, condition is important and greatly affects an individual tins value. While an example of an extremely rare tin in terrible condition will sell for a very nice price, it’s recommended you pass on anything that is dented, severely scratched, or missing some of it’s litho.
You can safely pay $75 for the following condom tins in nice condition.
Aristocrat – rectangular
Caravan
Carman – round
Chariots
Derbies
Drug-Pak+
Gems
Gensco
Gold-Pak
Gold-Tex
Napoleons
Radium Nutex
Romeos
Saf-T-Way
The Transparent Nutex
Trojan – Le Transparent
Trojans – Le Transparent
X-Cello’s
You can safely pay $150 for the following examples.
Ace High
Akron Tourist Tubes
Altex
Aristocrat – round
Blue Goose
De-luxe Blue Ribbon
Double tip
Esquire
Feather Tex
Gold Dollar
Hercules
Keystone
Merry Widows – rectangular
Naturals
Nunbetter
Nutex Lifeguards – round
Oriental
Parisians
Patrol
Peaches
Polly Brand – round
Rainbow Brand
Rajah
Regards
Rough Rider
RX 96
Safeway
Shield – round (this tin doesn’t say anything about condoms on it. It says ‘Shield’ on a plaque between two candles and ‘Exceptional Quality’ underneath the shield
Shorts
Silk-Skin
Silver Knight
Smithies
Sovereigns
Sphinx
Tally-Ho
Thins
Three Graces – round
3 Honeys – round
3 Pirates
Trey-Pak
Trianon
Several brands of condoms were also packaged in cardboard boxes and in foil containers. Some of these are worth quite a bit of money while others aren’t. I would recommend that you avoid this type of packaging until you have gained considerable experience or done your own research on them.
If you’re interested in learning more about condom tins there’s a good reference book available titled ‘Remember Your Rubbers’ by G.K. Elliot, George Goehring, & Dennis O’Brien. It’s readily available on eBay for around $25.
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