Box Vox

packaging as content

April 30, 2009

Early Can-Opener Patents

JGilbertCanOpener

Delving deeper into the subject of “packaging-related products” I bring you the patented “can opener.” Many were invented—but not until some 30 years after the invention of the can itself! Soldiers supplied with early canned food during the Napoleonic Wars (in cylindrical tin or wrought-iron canisters) “had to cut the cans open with bayonets or smash them open with rocks.” 

Still, “the can” caught on, despite difficulty opening and the occasional lead poisoning of arctic expeditions. (Photos of some later arctic exploration canned goods: here)

At any rate, as the iPod begat iPod accessories, so too did “the can” serve as the mother of innumerable inventions.

(Seven more early can-opener patents follow, after the fold…)

RSmithCanOpener
CanOpeners
Randy Ludacer
Beach Packaging Design

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