FEW people will have heard of Baron Justus von Liebig yet millions of people use his products every day!

The baron, who lived from 1803 to 1873 developed a form of concentrated meat extract which became extremely popular from the 1860s onwards.

Initially it was marketed as Liebeg's Extract, but soon after 1900 it was remarketed with a much more catchy advertising brand name -- Oxo. It was an immense success in Britain and elsewhere, inspiring a whole galaxy of imitators who produced similar products under an array of different names including Beefex, Torox, and Oxeen.

But clever marketing and memorable advertising ensured that the Oxo brand survived and grew over the decades, and of course the brand name is still strong today.

A collecting phenomena has grown up around Oxo products over the years. The little cubes have been available in a variety of different containers, mostly tin ware boxes, and the company's innovative advertising has also generated a great deal of interest. Old shop placards, posters, and magazine advertisements for the Oxo product are also very collectable.

Of course there are also Oxo mugs and bowls which have been used for various promotions over the years, so all in all, there are more things with the famous Oxo brand name on them than you may well realise.

The main focus for collectors is around the Oxo tin which has changed its form over the years and while the most common examples are fetching perhaps £5 to £10 each if in good condition, some of the larger containers or ones featuring particular designs can fetch more, some of them as much as £20 to £30.

There is a strong market too for Oxo advertisements, many of them appearing in colour magazines of the 1920s, 30s and later. Fine examples can also fetch £15 to £30 around the antiques fairs, and old cardboard shop advertisements, sometimes used in windows and on the counter can fetch as much as £60 to £80 on occasions when they crop up.

The Oxo shop poster illustrating this article dates from about 1906 and is a typical example of the more subtle, more gentle advertising message of the era.