What day is it?

August 25 is called Happy birthday tinor tin can. On the one hand, it may seem that this is a rather frivolous date. However, if you think about what opportunities humanity has received thanks to this invention, then your perception of the holiday will change dramatically. A can is an ideal vessel for long-term storage and transportation of various dishes. At the same time, the contents of a can sometimes taste better than refined restaurant dishes.

Fish, meat, vegetable and fruit preserves are stored in cans. It is only worth mentioning a few in tomato sauce or stew, which are eaten with appetite in the fresh air. Cans often offer ready-made cereals: buckwheat, rice, millet, etc. It is enough to open the can, put the finished product on a pan and heat it up. You can’t ignore the delicious desserts: fruits in their own juice. That is why the importance of the tin can is difficult to overestimate, and the holiday dedicated to it allows you to express gratitude to its inventors.

How did the idea to celebrate the birthday of the can come about?

The first tin can was invented by a resident of Great Britain, Peter Duran, in 1810. It occurred to the inventor to replace the heavy glass with tin products. Three years were enough for Duran to bring his idea to life. His first creation was a steel container. Food for the soldiers of the British army was supplied to such. The only drawback of such an invention was its heavy weight – one such container weighed half a kilogram. In order to at least slightly reduce the weight of the product, the inventor tried to make its walls thinner. Various tools, even axes, were actively used for this. At first, in the production of tin cans, namely for the soldering of seams, harmful metals were used, in particular lead, which poisoned the food and those who consumed it. However, later its use was abandoned.

Thanks to the latest approaches and technologies, cans have become as we know them. They were made lighter by the inventor Henry Besserman, who invented low-carbon steel. The invented metal was not only much lighter than ordinary steel, but also had properties that allowed it to be easily bent and reshaped during production.

In 1858, a special knife for opening cans was invented and patented. The first such knives were used by American soldiers during the Civil War of 1861-65. At the beginning of the 20th century, they began to produce electric can knives.

Interesting facts about cans

• Few people know, but the word “spam” owes its appearance to a tin can. In 1936, one of the American companies released a line of canned meat from various meats and began to actively promote it in order to quickly sell off the stocks left after the 1st World War. The brand name is SPiced hAM. Advertisements of this canned product were heard from everywhere so often that people quickly got tired of them. At the end of the 20th century, some kind of financial pyramid began to be advertised in a similar way. Savvy consumers were quick to draw an analogy between the two ad campaigns and dubbed the new annoying ad with the letters of the previously known “SPAM” promotion. Therefore, today any annoying advertising messages are called spam.
• In 1962, cans became an object of serious art. It was then that Andy Vergol, an American artist of Ukrainian origin, dedicated his works to “Campbell’s” cans. Canvases with brand cans depicted on them were in no less demand than the cans themselves and literally “flew” for 100 US dollars apiece. In total, about 50 such works were sold, some of them were quite large – 2×1.5 meters. Today, these works can be found in famous museums of the world.
• In 2010, at a New York auction, one of Wargol’s paintings entitled “Campbell’s Soup Can with Opener” was sold for a very high price. The buyer paid more than 20 million US dollars for it.
• Tin cans cannot be thrown away, as the tin does not decompose well, and the remains of food on it attract the attention of wild animals. After relaxing in nature, tin cans should be taken with you. If there is no such possibility, then the products must be burned on a hot fire, then flattened, buried deep in the ground. After the bonfire, small cracks form on the jar, which accelerates the decomposition process.
• Cans can be reused. After use, metal products do not have to be thrown away, with a little creativity you can make interesting things from them or simply use them in everyday life. They make excellent street lamps, containers for storing small items. A sheet from a can is suitable for making a homemade grater for vegetables, etc.
• In addition to the long-term storage of food products, cans are often used for botaline packaging. Jars of shoe polish are popular in the army, this substance is intended for the care of military shoes.
• The first canned goods, which were fried and stored in a clay jar filled with olive oil, were made in the time of Tutankhamun. Some of them were found during the excavation of the tomb of the Egyptian pharaoh. Although preserves were made about 3,000 years ago, they were relatively edible.
• There are collectors of cans from canned fish (fishophilists) and connoisseurs of labels from cans – they are called philolidists. In the collections of some there are really interesting copies dating from the times of the 1st and 2nd World Wars.

The birthday of a can in history

• 1810

  The first tin can was invented by a resident of Great Britain, Peter Duran.
• 1858

  A special knife for opening cans was invented and patented.
• 2010

  At a New York auction, one of Wargol’s paintings entitled “Campbell’s Soup Can with Opener” was sold for a very high price. The buyer paid more than 20 million US dollars for it.

How to celebrate the birthday of a can?

The holiday is not official and is celebrated at the corporate level. There are more than 10 canneries operating in Ukraine, which differ in their capacity and production volumes. Tin containers of domestic and imported production are used for packing canned goods. Employees of such enterprises believe The can’s birthday, which is celebrated on August 25, as its professional holiday. Collectors who collect tin cans and their labels should also be congratulated on this day.

In Ukraine, this holiday was not particularly popular. It is celebrated by people who are directly related to the production of cans and canned products. On this day, corporate events, awarding of the best employees, etc. take place.

When will we celebrate the birthday of the can?