This is a fun find from a Vintage market in Toronto Canada last week; a set of three Vander Meulen Rusk Canisters with wonderful iconic Dutch sporting scenes. There are three in the set and the imagery is as follows:

1 - One side is a winter scene with speed skaters skating on a frozen canal. The other side is in the warmer weather and shows farmers pole vaulting over the same canal.

2 - Horses Skijoring in a race on the frozen canal on one side. The other side is a game of Lawn Bowling in a packed stadium in the summer time.

3 - One side is a sail boat race on a lake with billowy summer clouds. The other side is parading trotting horses (maybe in a race?) with Dutch Africans in full regalia.

All three have the same color scheme of a beige background with red and navy blue decorative accents and blue dried flowers and brown dried wheat around the full color imagery. vander Meulen is on the top of each of the cans with the same red and blue decorative element.

The tins are in nice vintage condition. There are areas of oxidation and slight surface rust on all three, particularly around the lids and seams. The inside rim of each of the lids is quite rusty and has left marks in the top of each of the tins. They are difficult to get open, but I have been able to get all three open with just a bit of elbow grease. Inside of two is bright silver shiny while one has oxidized and is quite dark. They would all benefit from a good, gentle cleaning. The only dent noted is on the summer canal jumping image by the fence. The tops are dent free and fits securely on the containers, just really rusty on the inside rims as noted above. The colors and imagery are still really nice.

This is what I found about the history of 'van der Meulen':
In 1910, Hessel van der Meulen decided it was time to turn his hobby into a job. He opens a traditional rusk bakery in his village Ferwerd. The fact that Hessels' passion produced very good quality rusks did not go unnoticed: the whole of the Northern Netherlands suddenly seemed to start the day with a Van der Meulen Rusk. The bakery in Ferwerd makes way for a larger bakery in Hallum, especially equipped for rusks: 'De Volharding' was born.
In 1930 the second generation takes over. Under his leadership, Van der Meulen Beschuit was ready to conquer the land of unlimited possibilities - America. The motto? 'The more you eat, the more you want!'
In the early 1990s, Van der Meulen grew into an international company with forty export countries and approximately one hundred and twenty employees.

These display really well and would add some sporting flair to any place they grace. Just a fun vintage find!

Dimensions:
9 1/2" tall X 4 1/4" diameter

Sold as a Set of Three