Tin with a Tale: Unusual Mount Everest Souvenir Sells
A connection to Mount Everest made an old can of beef drippings worth much more than an auction house expected, especially to another Everest climber.
A link to a historic event or famous figure raises the value of any collectible, even an old can of food. A tin of Colonial Beef Dripping, more than 70 years old, climbed past its £120 high estimate (about $160) to sell for £630 (about $830) at an auction in England, thanks to its connection to the first documented expedition to successfully reach the summit of Mount Everest.
The tin was sold at the Sporting and Collectors Auction at Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood in Exeter, Devon, England, which closed on March 18. It had previously belonged to Mike Westmacott, one of the mountaineers on the 1953 British Mount Everest Expedition, during which Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first confirmed climbers to reach the summit. Westmacott later gave the tin to his housekeeper, E. M. Elliot, saying it was left over from the expedition. A letter from Elliot stating the tin’s provenance was part of the auction lot.
Food packaging has its share of fans among collectors of antique advertising, but, as Brian Goodison-Blanks, Head of the Maritime and Sporting Department at Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood, told BBC News, this tin’s “unique history” is what makes it valuable. There are collectors who specialize in expedition memorabilia.
For the buyer, Graham Keene, there was a personal connection. In 2022, Keene, then 68, became the oldest British climber to scale Mount Everest. Now, he gives presentations on the Himalayas and plans to use the tin as a prop.
The Everest summit may be the stuff of legend, but the tin is a reminder of its realities. Goodison-Banks pointed out that the expedition required carrying pallets of food “up and down to various base camps.” In this light, the tin is a reminder of the enormous amount of work that went into the expedition. The fact that it belonged to a mountaineer who participated in the expedition but was not part of the summit team further highlights that conquering Everest was truly a team effort that required enormous support.
Price includes 26% Buyer’s Premium.
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