Sucrets tins aren't just for storing lozenges. Consumer surveys by manufacturer SmithKline Beecham show one in three Sucrets buyers reuses the empty containers. The top three items kept in the tins:

SmithKline Beecham, maker of Sucrets throat lozenges, is expected to announce today that it will retire the popular flip-top tin in favor of a flip-top plastic container with a see-through window, beginning Sept. 1.

Invented in Baltimore by Sharp & Dohme pharmaceutical in 1932, Sucrets have always been sold in the trademark metal box except for one 4 1/2-month period during the late 1960s when a tin shortage led to cardboard packaging, says [Frank Dzvonik].