1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:02,000 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class. It's a production of I 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:07,440 Speaker 1: Heart Radio Hello Hello Again. I'm Eves and you're listening 3 00:00:07,560 --> 00:00:10,600 Speaker 1: to This Day in History class, where we examine the 4 00:00:10,640 --> 00:00:25,480 Speaker 1: past from the present. Today is January. The day was 5 00:00:25,560 --> 00:00:31,320 Speaker 1: January nine. Canned beer hit the shelves for the first 6 00:00:31,360 --> 00:00:35,680 Speaker 1: time when Krueger's Finest Beer and Krueger's Cream Ale went 7 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:39,320 Speaker 1: on sale. Beer is an alcoholic beverage made from the 8 00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:43,880 Speaker 1: fermentation of grain. Historical evidence supports the existence of beer 9 00:00:44,080 --> 00:00:47,639 Speaker 1: seven thousand years ago, but it could be older than that. 10 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:53,159 Speaker 1: Beer was popular in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and other places in 11 00:00:53,159 --> 00:00:58,000 Speaker 1: the ancient world. Ancient Greeks and Romans preferred wine over beer, 12 00:00:58,400 --> 00:01:01,920 Speaker 1: but beer production spread throughout Europe and ancient and medieval 13 00:01:01,960 --> 00:01:07,000 Speaker 1: times when brewing and baking were closely related tasks, so 14 00:01:07,160 --> 00:01:10,119 Speaker 1: people have been figuring out ways to serve and store 15 00:01:10,200 --> 00:01:14,160 Speaker 1: beer for a long time. In its early days, beer 16 00:01:14,240 --> 00:01:18,360 Speaker 1: was served in buckets, sacks, jars, and other vessels. It 17 00:01:18,400 --> 00:01:23,520 Speaker 1: was often drunk just after fermentation before it spoiled. Glass 18 00:01:23,560 --> 00:01:27,240 Speaker 1: bottles were first produced sometime around the first century BC, 19 00:01:28,160 --> 00:01:32,440 Speaker 1: but they were a luxury throughout the Middle Ages. Brewers 20 00:01:32,640 --> 00:01:36,520 Speaker 1: began putting beer in handblown glass bottles in England in 21 00:01:36,560 --> 00:01:40,319 Speaker 1: the late fifteen hundreds, but the bottle often exploded from 22 00:01:40,319 --> 00:01:44,959 Speaker 1: the carbon dioxide pressure inside, and not everyone accepted drinking 23 00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:48,280 Speaker 1: beer out of a bottle versus a cask. On top 24 00:01:48,320 --> 00:01:51,320 Speaker 1: of that, bottles were expensive and had to be filled 25 00:01:51,360 --> 00:01:55,040 Speaker 1: and corked by hand. Over on the North and South 26 00:01:55,080 --> 00:01:59,880 Speaker 1: American continents, Native Americans brewed beer using corn before European 27 00:02:00,120 --> 00:02:04,280 Speaker 1: even arrived. Early colonists began making beer, and by the 28 00:02:04,320 --> 00:02:07,279 Speaker 1: early eighteen hundreds the number of breweries in the US 29 00:02:07,640 --> 00:02:11,880 Speaker 1: had grown significantly, but consumption of commercially brewed beer was 30 00:02:11,919 --> 00:02:15,480 Speaker 1: still moderate. But by the second half of the century, 31 00:02:15,919 --> 00:02:19,720 Speaker 1: German immigrants were bringing new brewing methods to the US 32 00:02:19,800 --> 00:02:26,520 Speaker 1: and breweries proliferated. Higher wages, better technology, and urbanization also 33 00:02:26,600 --> 00:02:31,000 Speaker 1: contributed to this rise in production. In eighteen sixty six, 34 00:02:31,160 --> 00:02:34,680 Speaker 1: the chilled iron mold was invented, and it made production 35 00:02:34,919 --> 00:02:39,960 Speaker 1: cheaper and faster. In eighteen seventy three, Carl von Linda, 36 00:02:40,400 --> 00:02:45,240 Speaker 1: working for the spot In Brewery and Munich, invented mechanical refrigeration. 37 00:02:45,960 --> 00:02:49,400 Speaker 1: This allowed for a year round brewing and made colder 38 00:02:49,440 --> 00:02:54,280 Speaker 1: processed logger beers more available. In eighteen seventy nine, an 39 00:02:54,320 --> 00:02:57,760 Speaker 1: english Man named Henry Barrett invented the screw top beer 40 00:02:57,800 --> 00:03:01,880 Speaker 1: bottle pasteurization caud on in beer production so that bottled 41 00:03:01,880 --> 00:03:06,040 Speaker 1: beers could be stored longer and shipped farther, and in 42 00:03:06,160 --> 00:03:10,800 Speaker 1: nineteen hundred, Michael Joseph Owens invented the first automated glass 43 00:03:10,800 --> 00:03:15,239 Speaker 1: bottle manufacturing machine. By the early nineteen hundreds, bottled beer 44 00:03:15,440 --> 00:03:19,760 Speaker 1: was taking off, but glass bottles were heavy and expensive, 45 00:03:20,120 --> 00:03:23,880 Speaker 1: and they weren't the easiest to stack and ship. People 46 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:27,680 Speaker 1: also paid deposits on bottles, which could be returned for 47 00:03:27,720 --> 00:03:32,000 Speaker 1: a refund. Many of the returned bottles were unusable, adding 48 00:03:32,040 --> 00:03:35,440 Speaker 1: to the cost of the whole operation. Plus, brewers were 49 00:03:35,480 --> 00:03:39,200 Speaker 1: sending their beer farther distances and they wanted to cut costs. 50 00:03:40,280 --> 00:03:44,040 Speaker 1: By this time, cans were already being used for food distribution. 51 00:03:44,680 --> 00:03:47,480 Speaker 1: Cans did not weigh as much as bottles and were cheap. 52 00:03:48,320 --> 00:03:50,800 Speaker 1: That said, the metal would react with the beer to 53 00:03:50,840 --> 00:03:53,840 Speaker 1: affect its taste, and cans had to be able to 54 00:03:53,880 --> 00:03:58,360 Speaker 1: contain the pressure of carbonated beer. The American Can Company 55 00:03:58,480 --> 00:04:01,760 Speaker 1: started trying to can beer round nineteen o nine, but 56 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:06,560 Speaker 1: prohibition made the production and distribution of alcoholic beverages illegal 57 00:04:07,560 --> 00:04:11,280 Speaker 1: prohibition was repealed in late nineteen thirty three. By then, 58 00:04:11,480 --> 00:04:15,120 Speaker 1: the American Canned Company had engineered a can that solved 59 00:04:15,280 --> 00:04:20,160 Speaker 1: the metallic, taste and pressure problems. Initial tests with canned 60 00:04:20,320 --> 00:04:23,320 Speaker 1: paps beer went well, but the product had to be 61 00:04:23,360 --> 00:04:26,600 Speaker 1: tried out in a market. The American Can Company approached 62 00:04:26,600 --> 00:04:30,200 Speaker 1: the Gottfried Krueger Brewing Company in Newark, New Jersey, and 63 00:04:30,320 --> 00:04:32,960 Speaker 1: offered to build them a canning line and pay for 64 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:37,040 Speaker 1: the first test batches. Two thousand cans of three point 65 00:04:37,080 --> 00:04:40,599 Speaker 1: two percent alcohol by volume Krueger beer was delivered to 66 00:04:40,720 --> 00:04:44,960 Speaker 1: faithful Krueger drinkers, who were overwhelmingly happy with the canned beer. 67 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:51,719 Speaker 1: On January ninety five, Krueger's Cream Ale and Krueger's Finest 68 00:04:51,800 --> 00:04:55,080 Speaker 1: Beer became the first beer's sold to the general public 69 00:04:55,120 --> 00:04:59,640 Speaker 1: and cans. Competitors soon began selling canned beer, and it's 70 00:04:59,640 --> 00:05:02,760 Speaker 1: popular larity grew throughout the nineteen thirties and after World 71 00:05:02,839 --> 00:05:06,360 Speaker 1: War Two. The first cans were flat topped and had 72 00:05:06,360 --> 00:05:09,279 Speaker 1: to be opened with a church key. Then came cone 73 00:05:09,320 --> 00:05:12,280 Speaker 1: top cans that could be closed with crown caps, then 74 00:05:12,520 --> 00:05:16,560 Speaker 1: pole tap tops, then stay tap tops, by nineteen seventy five. 75 00:05:17,680 --> 00:05:20,680 Speaker 1: As beer cans went through more reinventions, they caught on 76 00:05:20,760 --> 00:05:25,480 Speaker 1: with more consumers and brewing companies. The Krueger Brewing Company 77 00:05:25,520 --> 00:05:28,200 Speaker 1: shut down in nineteen sixty one, pushed out of the 78 00:05:28,240 --> 00:05:31,880 Speaker 1: market by companies like anheuser Busch. The Kruger label was 79 00:05:31,960 --> 00:05:35,840 Speaker 1: then sold to another brewing company. I'm Eve Jeff Coote 80 00:05:35,839 --> 00:05:38,480 Speaker 1: and hopefully you know a little more about history today 81 00:05:38,600 --> 00:05:41,880 Speaker 1: than you did yesterday. If you'd like to follow us 82 00:05:41,920 --> 00:05:45,240 Speaker 1: on social media, you can do so at t d 83 00:05:45,279 --> 00:05:51,240 Speaker 1: I h C Podcast on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, or 84 00:05:51,279 --> 00:05:53,680 Speaker 1: if you would prefer to email us, you can send 85 00:05:53,760 --> 00:05:56,960 Speaker 1: us a message at this day at I heart media 86 00:05:57,080 --> 00:06:00,240 Speaker 1: dot com. Thanks for listening. I hope to who you 87 00:06:00,320 --> 00:06:07,479 Speaker 1: here again tomorrow. For more podcasts from I heart Radio, 88 00:06:07,600 --> 00:06:10,120 Speaker 1: visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 89 00:06:10,120 --> 00:06:11,360 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.