The Can, An Unsung Hero Of American Living: The History of Ordinary Things
Over two centuries ago, the first cans were designed to sustain military campaigns. In 1772, the Dutch Navy carried salmon that had been cleaned, boiled in brine, smoked and placed in tin-plated iron boxes.
Napoleon also needed preserved food for his French armies. In 1795, a French confectioner, Nicolas Appert, demonstrated that if food is sealed in an airtight container, the air inside is expelled, and if it’s sufficiently heated, the food will keep. In 1810, the British Navy awarded a patent to British merchant Peter Durand for a heavy tin-plated iron cannister (tin prevented rusting and corrosion).
By 1812, Bryan Donkin set up the world’s first canning factory in London. The instruction on Donkin’s cans read “cut round the top near the outer edge with a chisel and hammer.” At this same time, Thomas Kensett, considered the father of the can industry in the U.S., set up a small plant in New York to can the first hermetically sealed (perfectly airtight) oysters, meats, fruits and vegetables in glass containers. In 1825, Kensett received a patent to use “vessels of tin.” A hand held can opener had to wait for the metal to become thinner.
In 1846, Henry Evans invented a die device to make a can in a single operation increasing production from six handcrafted cans per day to 60 cans per hour. In 1856, Gail Borden received a patent for the process of condensing milk by vacuum. The first “condensed” milk was canned in the U.S. in 1885. This allowed for transportation of milk to the cities.
From 1850 through 1870s, techniques were perfected for sealing tin cans with various soldering processes. Early tin cans were soldered with a tin-lead alloy which created a risk of lead poisoning. By 1888, the three-part can (the body and two lids) was created using two tight continuous folds between the can’s cylindrical body and the lids.
The 1920s saw improvement in the can linings using zinc compounds which lengthened the life of the food contents. In 1922, an invention for “crimping” lids on cans resulted in faster manufacturing speeds. The first flat-top can of beer was sold in the U.S. in the 1930s. By the 1950s, canned foods were promoted as part of a happy, postwar life.
In 1966, the aluminum ring-pull tab beverage can was introduced. The cans dominated the drink market, but the disposable pull-tabs had dangerously sharp edges. Over 20 years later, the retained ring-pull tabs were added to carbonated soft drinks, followed by beer cans in 1990.
In 1991 the FDA prohibited the U.S. canning industry from using lead-soldered cans. Metal cans, sometimes with a coating of tin, are now welded closed. In 2004, some canned products arrived with easy open tab lids.
Today, the 130 billion cans we use each year have created an eight-billion-dollar industry, with 200 manufacturing plants in 38 states, employing more than 35,000 employees. The can has improved our standard of living by making our food products less expensive, safer, readily available and more reliable.
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