Also . . . What other tin ___ “slang” can you think of?

Tin Pan Alley is a district or street where composers and publishers
congregate, hang out or have offices. The term first appeared in
print in 1908, (Hampton’s Broadway Magazine). In New York it was 28th
Street and in London it was Denmark Street.

Tin Pan Alley also refers to the body of composers and publishers.

Tin pan use to be slang for an old beat-up piano.
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Tin hat an army helmet (1903)
Tin can a naval destroyer (no date)
Tin horn someone who pretends to have money (1885)
Tinny cheap, junky (no date)
Tin man a movie character in the Wizard of Oz

We also used tin man phase (in industry) for a project that
progressed one step beyond the straw man phase.