** TINS of TASTE MUSEUM ** within the NationalBreadMuseum.org
GERMANY
F. AD. RICHTER & CIE
By all information found today, having to rely on the internet (without being in Germany, knowing the German language, & having the best libraries & research resources to access, OR not having a "Lebkuchen tin historian" to associate with, if there is such a person), this tin is one of the two oldest in the Tins of Taste Museum's treasured Lebkuchen tins -- somewhere at 1890 - 1910. It appeared in 2023 in Indiana, USA.
A Bit of Background
There's one internet source (https://www.ankerstein.org/html/CO.HTM) that is a history of F. Ad. Richter's life - born in Germany in 1846, to a dad who was a master baker. As Richter went through life, he had a slew of businesses & his share of ups & downs. And in that biographical history of his life, there are only three mentions of Lebkuchen:
1) His Lebkuchen factory in Nuremberg became the quality manufacturer of
cookies and cakes in Germany;
2) Richter was famous for the best chocolate (also cocoa and hard candy) in Germany;
3) Nuremberg (Lebkuchen and cookie factory, 1884 - 1913; now part of
Schöller Ice Cream);
When he died Dec. 25, 1910, he was one of the ten richest men in Germany. But within ten years his heirs were broke.
Around the very edge of the lid, upper half:
Extra feine Runde Echte Nurnberger = Extra fine round real Nurnberger
The discovery of the F. Ad. Richter & Cie Lebkuchen company has been very interesting, and around another 25-30 hours of research/reading/annotating info. I came upon the Stiftung Deutsches Historisches Museum which holds an "EXTRA FEINE RUNDE ANKER-LEBKUCHEN F.AD. RICHTER UND CIE K.K. HOFL. NÜRNBERG" tin (dose). The link to view it is: https://www.deutsche-digitale-bibliothek.de/item/E5Q3F5DJRGBOALNUO2OTFXIKGLHOEYTS Their photos show two, very different covers, so evidently both caps are a painted, embossed, pressed tin. Also of note is the name which has an added "K.K. HOFL. NÜRNBERG," (or deleted words on future tins). I wonder which came first, why the difference, etc.?? In the research, I found one other, sold in the USA in 2019 with the same cover as the one on this page, but an entirely different panel design which seemed to be in tan and blue.