Dubbin was used extensively by the British Army in the mid-twentieth century. It was a traditional product made of wax, oil and tallow and was used to soften, waterproof and condition leather. It was also found to act as an impermeable barrier to gas and so when applied to boots and leather equipment prevented vesicant gasses from penetrating the boot and contaminating the soldier wearing them. A number of different tins were used to issue the dubbin to men in and unpicking the particular era of a tin is not always easy. The example we are looking at today, however, is in the deep bronze green colour that the British Army began adopting for equipment in the 1950s and so it is likely that this tin dates from then:

Instead of a traditional boot polish lid with a twisting tab to open, this tin has a recessed lid, much like that on a syrup tin. A jack knife or similar would be needed to lift the lid and provide enough leverage to open the tin. The lid of the tin is embossed with details of the contents:

From this we can see that the tin holds 2oz of Dubbin and it was manufactured by JWH & Sons Ltd of Hull.