I’ve recently been enjoying the effects of a tiny blue pill.

No, not that tiny blue pill — although I will say that the results have been immediate and prodigious.

The pills I’m talking about are oval; ribbed on one side; and available over the counter. Here’s the giveaway: they’re curiously strong.

Altoids have become America’s favorite mint, and for good reason: they’re powerful! So powerful, in fact, that Altoids Arctic Peppermints have entered the medical rotation in our household: we use them as a nasal decongestant in the fall allergy season. A single Arctic Peppermint can be as effective an aid to breathing — in the short term — as a tablet of Sudafed or a blast of Afrin.

They’re cheap. They’re readily available. Unlike Sudafed, buying them doesn’t require showing an I.D. and signing an affidavit. Unlike Afrin, they’re not engineered to require ever larger doses to keep you breathing.

(Disclaimer: they are pretty addictive.)

The recipe for Altoids has barely changed since they were first sold in London in the 1780s. The ingredients list basically amounts to peppermint oil — and lots of it.

Peppermint oil has been used as a natural remedy for millennia. Its active ingredient is menthol, which interacts with the human body in a variety of interesting ways. Applied topically, menthol causes our nervous system’s cold receptors to fire, which is why it feels cool when rubbed on the skin.

In this way, it acts as the opposite to capsaicin, a naturally occurring compound in spicy peppers, which causes our nervous system’s heat receptors to fire.

In both cases, the skin is chemically tricked into thinking there’s been a change in ambient temperature — cold, in the case of menthol; hot, in the case of capsaicin — when no such change has occurred.

But the primary use of peppermint oil throughout history has been to calm gastric distress. The oil has well documented analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and anti-spasmodic properties, which has made it a go-to remedy for colic, dyspepsia, and even irritable bowel syndrome.

In fact, when Altoids were first introduced, they were marketed as a “stomach calmative;” it wasn’t until well into the 20th century that the medical claims were dropped from the advertising, and the mints were promoted as simple breath fresheners.

Whether you use them to ease your breathing; freshen your breath; or calm your stomach, the bottom line is this: they work.

But that’s only half the story. The other key to Altoids’ success is their ingeniously old-fashioned packaging: a colorful, palm-sized tin box with a hinged lid that hearkens back to the glory days of lithographic printing, and somehow manages to feel so utilitarian and valuable that throwing it away seems downright sinful. You find yourself thinking: surely I can use this for…something!

If you’re ever feeling gloomy about our prospects as a nation of tinkerers and inventors, Google the words “Altoids tin projects.” You’ll soon find yourself awash in Altoid tin cheese graters, Altoid tin camping stoves, Altoid tin first aid kits, laser pointers, dart launchers, shortwave radios, martini kits, flashlights, pinhole cameras, tackle boxes, watercolor palettes, tasers, strobe lights, pocket gardens, catapults, dollhouses, change purses, computers — yes, you can build a fully functional computer in an Altoid tin — solar chargers, breathalyzers, crayon holders, candles, block planes, fire starters, guitar amplifiers…

Actually, as soon as I saw a picture of an Altoid tin guitar amplifier, I knew I wanted to make one. What a perfect father/daughter project! It was easy enough to find schematics and a materials list, but I soon discovered that you don’t have to build one from scratch. A bit of searching turned up a vendor on Etsy named “Hesslerk” who’s made a niche for himself in the world of Altoid tin electronics. He sells guitar and MP3 amps as finished products, but where’s the fun in that? I’d rather bust out the soldering iron and make an afternoon of it, as Nina and I did with our last project, a guitar amp made from a cigar box.

Of course, an Altoid tin amp project has a major side benefit: several weeks of clear breathing.

Not to mention fresh breath.