Sealed Vintage Uhle's Blend 300 Tobacco Tin (14oz) — c. 1955-1962 Milwaukee Original
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Description
**Three hundred.**
In old Milwaukee, that was the magic number every bowler dreamed of seeing on his scorecard. A perfect game! But down at a certain tobacco shop on Michigan Street, the number 300 meant something quite different.
And for generations of Wisconsin pipe smokers, it was every bit as satisfying.
Picture Milwaukee in nineteen fifty seven. Hank Aaron and the Braves have just brought a World Series championship home to Wisconsin. The neighborhood bowling alleys are doing a lively business, the jukebox is playing the latest records, and downtown there's a fellow named John H. Uhle who knows a thing or two about fine tobacco.
Jack Uhle, as his friends knew him, had opened his tobacco shop back in 1939. He was a hands-on proprietor, often sitting right in the front window repairing briar pipes and blending tobacco while the good people of Milwaukee hurried past.
And in 1948, he came up with something rather special.
**Uhle's Blend 300.**
Not a fancy imported mixture with an aristocratic pedigree, but a good, honest American tobacco made with skill, pride, and a little Wisconsin ingenuity.
Offered here is a splendid old 14-ounce factory-sealed can of Uhle's Blend 300, complete with its bright red lid, original metal opening lever, handsome period graphics, and Uhle's paper seal still intact.
Right there on the label is John H. Uhle's own signature, accompanied by his personal assurance that the tobacco was manufactured and guaranteed by his Milwaukee tobacco factory.
Now that's the sort of thing you don't see every day!
The original recipe is described on the can as a marriage of Burley, Cavendish, and Virginia tobaccos, blended to create an exceptionally mild, slightly aromatic mixture.
And here's where things get interesting.
An old Uhle's brochure tells us that Blend 300 was treated with the company's distinctive "Honey-Hive flavoring," a delicate touch of sweetness that became one of the mixture's trademarks.
Ask the fellows who remember smoking Blend 300, and they'll tell you about its wonderfully traditional character. Toasted walnuts, roasted Burley, a little cocoa and graham cracker, perhaps some brown sugar and molasses, all brought together by just a whisper of honey.
Nothing terribly fancy. Nothing overpowering. Just a good, mellow tobacco that knew exactly what it wanted to be.
The sort of mixture a fellow might keep handy beside his radio, take along to the fishing cabin, or enjoy while listening to the ballgame on a Saturday afternoon.
And that was precisely the charm of Uhle's. Jack wasn't trying to reinvent the American pipe. He was simply making tobacco that his customers would come back for, year after year.
During the 1950s, the little Milwaukee business grew into a respected supplier of pipes and tobaccos throughout the Midwest. In 1982, Jack handed the reins to two longtime employees, and remarkably, the Uhle's tradition carries on to this very day.
But it's not every day that an old can like this turns up with its original seal still undisturbed.
Fourteen generous ounces, its cheerful red-and-cream artwork still proudly proclaiming Blend 300, and the signature of the man who built the business right there on the label.
The recipe inside has a documented history reaching back to 1948, and its packaging recalls the wonderful years when independent American tobacconists blended their own specialties and proudly stood behind their names.
A perfect 300 at the bowling alley might be remembered for a lifetime. But this particular 300 has survived for generations.
A splendid piece of old Milwaukee, a little slice of American tobacco history, and another remarkable survivor proudly presented by your friend, Pipe Appeal.
Listing Details:
• Brand: Uhle's Tobacco Company (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
• Blend: Blend 300 (Burley, Cavendish, Virginia with signature Honey-Hive casing)
• Size: 14 oz. Net Weight
• Condition: Factory Sealed. Original paper tax/factory seal is intact and unbroken. The tin is structurally sound, clean, and exhibits fantastic color vibrancy with excellent shelf appeal.
• Estimated Era (Mid-1950s to Early 1960s):
• Graphics: Features the iconic mid-century "Blend 300" red ribbon banner styling.
• Tin Architecture: Utilizes the classic press-fit red lid with a keyless, integrated self-lever metal opening pry—a hallmark of 1950s heavy-gauge structural tinplate manufacturing.
• Typography: The manufacturer block reads "Milwaukee, Wisconsin" without a 5-digit ZIP code, strictly dating its production prior to the USPS ZIP code rollout in 1963.



