Vintage design: a buyer's guide

Add to your current collection of Marmite jars and Golden Syrup tins with a few samples of vintage household packaging. You’ll find versions like this Bassett’s Jelly Babies box for £7-£10. Remember: bright, attractive designs and well-known brand names count for more than just the age of an item. Photograph: millersonline.com

Functional, beautiful and affordable, vintage tins tick all the right boxes, and you can pick up gorgeous designs for as little as £5. This tiny (4.5cm) Ovaltine tin was probably issued to members of the League of Ovalteenies in the 1940s. It would hold enough to have with the daily free milk at school and will fetch £20-£30 today. Photograph: millersonline.com

Homepride’s bowler-hatted Fred has graced many a kitchen work surface over the years. Made by Spillers in the 1970s, his kookiness still appeals to collectors. The salt and pepper shakers go for around £10-£12 today, while the fully functional “flour grader Fred” (with sieve, mixing bowl, rolling pin, spoon and pastry cutters hidden under his feet) can fetch up to £50. Photograph: Katherine Rose/millersonline.com

Collectors love the black stuff for its quirky and memorable designs – as this 50s metal Guinness advertising tray with smiling pints demonstrates. Guinness advertising is an enormously popular area for collectors, with the famous toucan – a 1935 design inspired by a visit to London zoo – commanding hundreds of pounds. These smiling pints, however, are yours for £55-£65. Photograph: millersonline.com

The prancing Babycham deer embodied the drink’s sprightly qualities and was used on labels and advertising from the 1950s. Since its relaunch in 1997, Babycham advertising has become increasingly popular, but – since it was mass-produced in the 50s – pieces such as this £55 figurine remain affordable. Photograph: millersonline.com

The perfect find for all vintage and/or tea lovers, this 11.5in (29cm) high Tetley Tea sign from the 70s is worth £60-£80 and can be propped up anywhere. Photograph: millersonline.com

The art nouveau period was the first golden age of poster design. Examples from this era usually fetch high prices, although the overall appearance and style of a poster can be important in determining value. This art nouveau poster, advertising The Girl and the Gods, a novel by Charlotte Mansfield, will go for £200-£300. Photograph: millersonline.com

London Underground was one of the first organisations in Britain to recognise posters as an art form, as its own archive of prints shows. This Victoria line poster was designed by Tom Eckersley of Eckersley Studio and published by London Transport in around 1968. At £600-£800, you’re paying for a slice of design history that many experts still consider undervalued today. Photograph: millersonline.com