Did you know can opener was invented to prevent the US army from spilling drinks?
A can opener or a tin opener refers to a mechanical device that is used to open metal or tin cans. Okay, but what these cans used for? To store food and drinks in a air-tight condition, so that they do not get ruined. History says that they were first invented as a food preservation method in the 1772 Netherlands. But did you know back then, can openers didn’t exist? Okay then, how were the first cans opened? As it turns out, people used a chisel and a hammer to do so. Well, so did Napoleon. Quite laborious, don’t you think? That is why he tried to find an alternative. Eager to know what happened next or how and when the first can opener was invented? Let us find out.
Napoleon and glass jars
When we said Napoleon decided to find a substitute, we meant to cans and not to its opener. As it happened, in 1795, he offered a prize for whoever invented a preservation technique to allow his army’s food to remain unspoiled during their long tours. What you may not know is; at that time, it was common for the French government to offer financial rewards to inspire scientific innovation. Anyway, so an inventor named Nicholas Appert took up on Napoleon’s offer and in the early 19th century invented glass jars with lids that easily replaced metal and tin cans. Now you know why it took a while to come up with the idea of can openers, don’t you?
King George III’s perforated cans
Around the same time, in England, King George III commissioned British inventor Peter Durand to develop a iron can with perforated lids. As you can understand, the perforation often spoiled the food or drink inside, which is when the inventor realised to go back to the original idea. With the king’s permission, he also started commercially selling the cans, and guess what, due to its easy preservation method, they quickly became mainstream. But people still had to drill in or use ancient methods to open the cans, which were largely tedious. In fact, the good-quality cans were made of wrought iron interior lined with tin for a shiny look. The entire thing was more than 3.5 inches thick. So, as you can understand, even a chisel and a hammer at times made it impossible to open them.
American inventor saves US army from spilling drinks
During the 1850s, when the Civil War was ongoing in the USA, the army were often sent packaged food and canned drinks (mostly soda) to stay healthy and hydrated. Around the same time, Americans realised that iron cans were difficult to transport as they were heavier, so they replaced them with thinner and lighter steel cans. But opening them was still a problem and the chisel and hammer method seemed backdated, so much so, that it opened the cans abruptly. Thus, when the soldiers tried to take a sip of soda directly from the cans, they often spilled it, thus ruining their uniforms.
This is when the US army opened advertised that whoever could help them solve this problem will be rewarded. An inventor named Ezra J. Warner took up on the offer, and in January 1858, the first ever can opener was invented. It was a tool in the shape of a plier that had a blade installed and could easily cut into the can lid. The best part was it had a guard to prevent it from puncturing the entire can. Smart, isn’t it? So, it’s as if the handlers could saw their way around the edges of the can, without opening the entire lid.
As expected, the can opener was an overnight hit not only among the soldiers but also among commoners. In fact, they had to be mass produced to keep up with the demand in the departmental stores around the country.
Modern-day cans
While Warner’s invention saved the US army from spilling drinks anymore, his tool wasn’t perfect. Realising that, in 1870, another American inventor named William Lyman modified the can opener into something like a rotary cutter to cut around the can. However, the can opener that we know today with the classic “toothed-wheel crank design” (as it is called by the inventor himself) was born in the 1920s in the hands of Charles Arthur Bunker.