One of the most popular methods of preserving and storing food is through cans; from spam and tuna to tomatoes and pineapple, there is no end to the myriad of ingredients that are held in cans. Though the food can that we know today is most comparable to Andy Warhol’s Campbell Soup Cans, it did not start out that way; rather, it evolved throughout the centuries.
Today, Napoleon Bonaparte is known as one of history’s greatest military leaders. He first rose to prominence during the French Revolution. Two years after Louis XVI’s execution in 1793, a revolt broke out in Paris, causing Napoleon to enter France’s political playing field. Having previously acted as an adjutant of a brigade, he became active once more. Napoleon was able to rise quickly within the ranks due to his natural mindset and talents, eventually appointed to the Italian Expeditionary Command in 1795.
Napoleon was a man who needed to win; therefore, it was logical to hasten mealtimes and use the most efficient form of food packaging to maximize the time spent on the battlefield. In other words, his scheme to devise finer food preservation and storage methods stemmed from a desire for victory, and in 1795, a container was invented to hold sustenance for soldiers.
It was easy to envision the metallic cylinders that we associate with food storage today, but unfortunately, the poor quality of iron in France at that time made mass production of metal containers infeasible. Instead, glass bottles sealed with corks were the prototype of food cans. In 1905, Nicolas Appert—considered the father of food science—would continue to develop containers for food preservation. However, there was an issue with this method; due to the expensiveness and fragility of glass, they could not be used for large amounts of food. In other words, it was impractical. Moreover, glass bottles developed in France were weak, easily shocked, and heavy.
With this in mind, another type of food container had to be devised, something that occurred about ten years later. In 1805, Peter Duran developed and distributed canned food in steel containers. Yet there was a glaring complication: in order to open it, people needed a hammer or awl, meaning that injuries often occurred. Thus, an American named William Lyman invented a can with an easily rippable seal in 1870. Unfortunately, opening this food container still caused harm due to the sharpness of the metal material.
It would be decades—almost a century—before the food can was innovated again. In 1959, the food container that we would know today was developed using aluminum. Like its immediate archetype, it was still stiff and sharp, so it was soon rectified by replacing the material with a thinner steel and aluminum. This is the food can that we know today. Undoubtedly, there are several variations lining market shelves and our pantry drawers. Yet, they all share a history, starting—surprisingly, perhaps—from Napoleon’s wars.
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