I'm not really sure why pots hold a fascination. I never use them for their intended fillings; jam, honey, mustard and such. I either decant those into small bowls for the table or (horrors) put the original pots on the table. We don't quite go as far as having the milk bottle on there as well, but we like to reduce washing up mostly.
I suppose these pots were originally sold because people made their own sauces and condiments, didn't just buy a bottle of ketchup or whatever. We take the availability of such things for granted these days, and the array on offer is staggering. Maybe some people still use them to disguise which brands they buy- like the recycling bins put out at the gate with all the labels carefully removed, so we don't know who buys cheapo baked beans...I'm not worried about any of that, although I do worry about the amount of wine bottles occasionally. Although the van only comes once a fortnight. This week, for example we only put out two cans and three bottles...but loads of paper. The week after Christmas is always an eye-opener, bottle-wise...
The beans are all Heinz in this house. I've tried buying cheapo, and low sugar/sodium. No-one will eat them, so that's not an economy, just a waste.
My Grandma used to hoard tins of food, a throwback to the war (and possibly the 70s shortages as well), salmon was something she had a cupboard full of. Until there was the botulism episode. A few people died after eating contaminated tinned salmon. Well, suddenly she was making a gift to my mum every week of several tins of salmon 'because she had lots'. Thanks, Granny. Good old family values. Our bin must have nearly crippled the dustman, there was no recycling thenaday, and they had to carry the bins. And they put them back after emptying.