Unopened can of Prince Albert Crimp Cut Pipe and Cigarette Tobacco. Full tin of tobacco.

The best joke for children of the 1930s involved a tobacco tin. Prince Albert was a very popular brand of tobacco first made in 1907. It was named for the future king of England, Edward VII (called “Albert” by his family), and his picture was on the front.

It was packaged in a rectangular red tin container with a flip lid. Since many tobaccos were sold in bags, not tins, it was special. The ultimate joke, still quoted today, is a child’s call to a drugstore: “Do you have Prince Albert in a can?” The druggist’s answer, “Yes,” was followed by the young prankster’s response, “Then let him out,” followed by peals of laughter.