1 00:00:04,440 --> 00:00:12,399 Speaker 1: Welcome to Tech Stuff, a production from iHeartRadio. Hey thereon 2 00:00:12,560 --> 00:00:16,120 Speaker 1: Welcome to Tech Stuff. I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. I'm 3 00:00:16,120 --> 00:00:20,000 Speaker 1: an executive producer with iHeart Podcasts and how the tech 4 00:00:20,040 --> 00:00:24,840 Speaker 1: are you? So? Longtime Tech Stuff listeners know that I 5 00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:26,920 Speaker 1: like to mix it up a bit on this show. 6 00:00:27,240 --> 00:00:31,040 Speaker 1: I have some episodes that focus on things like bleeding 7 00:00:31,120 --> 00:00:35,280 Speaker 1: edge technologies, you know, like quantum computing, and then I 8 00:00:35,320 --> 00:00:39,320 Speaker 1: do others that look back to much less complicated and 9 00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:43,760 Speaker 1: certainly less whibbly wobbly advancements in tech. And today we'll 10 00:00:43,800 --> 00:00:47,920 Speaker 1: be talking about one of the examples in that second category, 11 00:00:48,280 --> 00:00:53,080 Speaker 1: because I wanted to chat about can openers. Now, first off, 12 00:00:53,479 --> 00:00:56,880 Speaker 1: there's a good chance you've heard what is arguably one 13 00:00:56,880 --> 00:01:02,000 Speaker 1: of the most interesting facts about can opener, namely that 14 00:01:02,280 --> 00:01:05,920 Speaker 1: it took nearly fifty years from the invention of the 15 00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:09,920 Speaker 1: ten can to the invention of the ten can opener, 16 00:01:10,560 --> 00:01:13,560 Speaker 1: which for me brings to mind this image of a 17 00:01:13,680 --> 00:01:18,280 Speaker 1: very hungry person buried in a pile of cans saying, okay, 18 00:01:19,319 --> 00:01:22,160 Speaker 1: now what But let's turn the clock back to the 19 00:01:22,240 --> 00:01:26,560 Speaker 1: late eighteenth century and talk about what precipitated the invention 20 00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:30,559 Speaker 1: of the ten can In the first place, it was war. 21 00:01:31,440 --> 00:01:34,880 Speaker 1: More specifically, it was the tail end of the French 22 00:01:34,920 --> 00:01:38,800 Speaker 1: Revolutionary Wars, and those, of course would then transition into 23 00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:41,520 Speaker 1: the Napoleonic Wars. So you know, that way, it was 24 00:01:41,560 --> 00:01:45,440 Speaker 1: just convenient to go from war to war. And very 25 00:01:45,480 --> 00:01:49,560 Speaker 1: often in the descriptions of can Openers and their history, 26 00:01:50,160 --> 00:01:54,040 Speaker 1: Napoleon Bonaparte gets thrown into the story. I do not 27 00:01:54,240 --> 00:01:57,520 Speaker 1: know how accurate it is to say that Napoleon Bonaparte 28 00:01:57,680 --> 00:02:00,800 Speaker 1: was instrumental in this. He may very well have been, 29 00:02:01,480 --> 00:02:07,480 Speaker 1: but the timing is a little iffy. So the timing 30 00:02:07,560 --> 00:02:11,680 Speaker 1: is typically set around seventeen ninety five. So I will 31 00:02:11,720 --> 00:02:14,720 Speaker 1: get to why Napoleon may or may not have been 32 00:02:14,800 --> 00:02:18,160 Speaker 1: involved in this particular part of the story. But the 33 00:02:18,560 --> 00:02:23,240 Speaker 1: basis of this problem was getting fresh or at least 34 00:02:23,360 --> 00:02:26,880 Speaker 1: unspoiled food to soldiers who were out in the field. 35 00:02:27,919 --> 00:02:31,160 Speaker 1: One of the challenges that armies faced was that, you know, 36 00:02:31,160 --> 00:02:33,639 Speaker 1: you got to feed all those folks who are fighting 37 00:02:33,680 --> 00:02:36,160 Speaker 1: on your side, or else they don't fight so good 38 00:02:36,200 --> 00:02:39,840 Speaker 1: no more. And the darnedest thing was that sometimes you 39 00:02:39,880 --> 00:02:42,720 Speaker 1: could win a battle in a region and you could 40 00:02:42,720 --> 00:02:47,160 Speaker 1: actually take territory, but the people in that region just 41 00:02:47,160 --> 00:02:50,160 Speaker 1: seemed reluctant to sell or share food with you for 42 00:02:50,200 --> 00:02:53,400 Speaker 1: some reason, just because you had been shooting all their 43 00:02:53,440 --> 00:02:57,239 Speaker 1: neighbors and relatives. So it was really the height of rudeness. 44 00:02:57,880 --> 00:02:59,640 Speaker 1: And this meant that you had to depend upon your 45 00:02:59,680 --> 00:03:04,079 Speaker 1: own supply lines to bring food from much further back 46 00:03:04,720 --> 00:03:08,440 Speaker 1: up to the front, and then you would be able 47 00:03:08,480 --> 00:03:12,880 Speaker 1: to provide supplies to your troops. But obviously these supply 48 00:03:12,960 --> 00:03:16,440 Speaker 1: lines had lots of challenges right. For one thing, they 49 00:03:16,480 --> 00:03:19,919 Speaker 1: were a really attractive target. If you could disrupt your 50 00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:23,480 Speaker 1: enemy's supply lines, you could starve out their forces, and 51 00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:26,320 Speaker 1: that meant that you were much more likely to secure 52 00:03:26,639 --> 00:03:30,600 Speaker 1: a victory. Those good chances that they were going to surrender, 53 00:03:30,880 --> 00:03:34,560 Speaker 1: because otherwise they would be starving to death. But even 54 00:03:34,600 --> 00:03:37,640 Speaker 1: if you weren't able to disrupt the supply lines directly, 55 00:03:38,120 --> 00:03:42,840 Speaker 1: if the lines are extended far enough, then they're going 56 00:03:42,920 --> 00:03:45,240 Speaker 1: to encounter problems of their own, whether those are problems 57 00:03:45,280 --> 00:03:49,000 Speaker 1: because of weather or terrain, or just the distances they 58 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:53,000 Speaker 1: have to travel. Often, by the time the supplies got 59 00:03:53,240 --> 00:03:56,800 Speaker 1: to the front, the food was spoiled. It could even 60 00:03:56,840 --> 00:03:59,400 Speaker 1: be to the point of being inedible or even dangerous. 61 00:03:59,440 --> 00:04:02,080 Speaker 1: To eat. Now, you may have heard the phrase an 62 00:04:02,200 --> 00:04:06,240 Speaker 1: army marches on its stomach. If you cannot feed your soldiers, 63 00:04:06,680 --> 00:04:08,400 Speaker 1: you're going to have a real rough go of it. 64 00:04:08,920 --> 00:04:12,520 Speaker 1: And so the French army offered a reward of twelve 65 00:04:12,800 --> 00:04:17,120 Speaker 1: thousand francs. If it hadn't been for the French Revolution, 66 00:04:17,279 --> 00:04:21,640 Speaker 1: it would have been a princely sum, but the royalty 67 00:04:21,839 --> 00:04:25,880 Speaker 1: had found themselves about a head shorter at this point. Anyway, 68 00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:28,479 Speaker 1: twelve thousand francs would go a really long way. And 69 00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:33,960 Speaker 1: obviously this was so that innovators would be incentivized to 70 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:37,800 Speaker 1: come up with better ways to preserve food. This strategy 71 00:04:38,240 --> 00:04:42,040 Speaker 1: of offering a sizable reward in return for innovation would 72 00:04:42,040 --> 00:04:46,040 Speaker 1: become a tried and true methodology from that point forward. 73 00:04:46,160 --> 00:04:50,320 Speaker 1: In fact, you could argue DARPA, the US Defense Advanced 74 00:04:50,360 --> 00:04:54,080 Speaker 1: Research Projects Agency, does the same sort of thing, you know, 75 00:04:54,120 --> 00:04:57,599 Speaker 1: with things like their Grand Challenges or the ex Prize. Right, 76 00:04:57,880 --> 00:05:02,800 Speaker 1: you end up setting a very tough challenge that we 77 00:05:02,880 --> 00:05:06,560 Speaker 1: need to solve, and you attach a hefty prize to it, 78 00:05:06,640 --> 00:05:08,000 Speaker 1: and then next thing you know, you got a bunch 79 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:10,880 Speaker 1: of smarty pants all over the place trying to be 80 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:14,240 Speaker 1: the first to do that Now, most accounts say that 81 00:05:14,320 --> 00:05:18,000 Speaker 1: whomever issued the offer did so around seventeen ninety five. 82 00:05:18,120 --> 00:05:20,880 Speaker 1: And again this is why I say Napoleon may or 83 00:05:20,960 --> 00:05:23,440 Speaker 1: may not have been the dude who did this. In 84 00:05:23,480 --> 00:05:26,839 Speaker 1: seventeen ninety five, Napoleon was actually still rising through the 85 00:05:26,920 --> 00:05:30,200 Speaker 1: ranks of the French military. He did become the commander 86 00:05:30,279 --> 00:05:33,560 Speaker 1: of the Army of the Interior in seventeen ninety five. 87 00:05:33,760 --> 00:05:37,160 Speaker 1: In late seventeen ninety five, so presumably he could have 88 00:05:37,200 --> 00:05:40,599 Speaker 1: been in charge of making this proclamation, but he was 89 00:05:40,640 --> 00:05:42,520 Speaker 1: not in command of all of France. He had not 90 00:05:42,640 --> 00:05:46,240 Speaker 1: become the Emperor Bonaparte at this point. So whether he 91 00:05:46,480 --> 00:05:50,359 Speaker 1: was directly responsible for issuing this order or that maybe 92 00:05:50,400 --> 00:05:54,240 Speaker 1: it was some other commander or group of commanders, I'm 93 00:05:54,279 --> 00:05:57,400 Speaker 1: not entirely sure. But it's close enough where I guess 94 00:05:57,440 --> 00:06:02,159 Speaker 1: you could say Bonaparte made the announcement and you know, 95 00:06:02,360 --> 00:06:06,279 Speaker 1: it's close. It could very well be true, and maybe 96 00:06:06,279 --> 00:06:09,760 Speaker 1: there's even documentation somewhere that really proves it. But as 97 00:06:09,800 --> 00:06:11,200 Speaker 1: I was going through, it was like a lot of 98 00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:15,080 Speaker 1: people making the assertion but not pointing to any actual 99 00:06:15,920 --> 00:06:20,719 Speaker 1: like incident where it was documented proof. It was just okay, 100 00:06:20,839 --> 00:06:24,400 Speaker 1: there was a twelve thousand franc reward announced that much 101 00:06:24,440 --> 00:06:27,880 Speaker 1: seems to be true, and maybe Napoleon Bonaparte was the 102 00:06:27,880 --> 00:06:30,480 Speaker 1: person who said it, but you know, it's kind of 103 00:06:30,480 --> 00:06:32,719 Speaker 1: fun to say, Napoleon Bonaparte's the reason why we have 104 00:06:32,839 --> 00:06:35,720 Speaker 1: can openers, even though it's a long journey from there. 105 00:06:36,880 --> 00:06:41,120 Speaker 1: Whomever it was who did announce the reward obviously inspired 106 00:06:41,160 --> 00:06:43,480 Speaker 1: a ton of folks to get to work to try 107 00:06:43,480 --> 00:06:46,200 Speaker 1: and suss out a way to preserve food better so 108 00:06:46,240 --> 00:06:49,559 Speaker 1: that it could survive the long journey through a supply line. 109 00:06:50,200 --> 00:06:54,080 Speaker 1: And one of those people was a guy named Nicholas 110 00:06:54,120 --> 00:07:00,719 Speaker 1: Francois Appear. Spoiler alert, no pun intended, we're talking about 111 00:07:00,800 --> 00:07:04,240 Speaker 1: food spoilage. He also has nothing to do with can 112 00:07:04,279 --> 00:07:08,360 Speaker 1: openers directly. Nicholas Appear did not invent the can opener, 113 00:07:09,200 --> 00:07:11,600 Speaker 1: but he does have something to do with the process 114 00:07:11,760 --> 00:07:15,840 Speaker 1: of canning. Now. At Paar was not an engineer. He 115 00:07:15,960 --> 00:07:19,280 Speaker 1: was not an inventor, at least not the technological kind 116 00:07:19,280 --> 00:07:24,560 Speaker 1: of inventor. He was a chef and a distiller of alcohol, 117 00:07:24,760 --> 00:07:27,960 Speaker 1: and he was also a confectioner, a candy maker, kind 118 00:07:27,960 --> 00:07:31,560 Speaker 1: of the Willy Wonka of his time. He was inspired 119 00:07:32,040 --> 00:07:36,880 Speaker 1: by this offer of a reward, and through that inspiration 120 00:07:36,960 --> 00:07:40,640 Speaker 1: he indulged in a lot of experimentation that ultimately would 121 00:07:40,720 --> 00:07:46,080 Speaker 1: lead to the process of canning not cans, not ten cans, 122 00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:50,000 Speaker 1: but the process of canning food in order to preserve it. 123 00:07:50,360 --> 00:07:54,240 Speaker 1: And that process involves heat treating the food and the 124 00:07:54,280 --> 00:08:00,200 Speaker 1: container and thus sterilizing the container and then sealing it 125 00:08:00,800 --> 00:08:06,400 Speaker 1: and keeping that seal nice and intact, and that this 126 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:11,400 Speaker 1: would keep food fresh indefinitely. A Pair used glass jars, 127 00:08:11,880 --> 00:08:14,720 Speaker 1: and he would seal the glass jars with corks and 128 00:08:14,880 --> 00:08:18,679 Speaker 1: hold those corks in place with a wire, so he would, 129 00:08:18,760 --> 00:08:21,000 Speaker 1: you know, wrap wire around the container to hold the 130 00:08:21,800 --> 00:08:25,160 Speaker 1: sealed shut. He would also use sealing wax to help 131 00:08:25,240 --> 00:08:30,160 Speaker 1: keep the seal intact, and he would place the sealed 132 00:08:30,200 --> 00:08:33,960 Speaker 1: containers in a bath of boiling water. Typically he would 133 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:36,360 Speaker 1: cover the jars in canvas first to protect them so 134 00:08:36,400 --> 00:08:41,520 Speaker 1: that they wouldn't chatter. And he experimented for more than 135 00:08:41,559 --> 00:08:45,240 Speaker 1: a decade. In fact, it was around fourteen years of 136 00:08:45,320 --> 00:08:49,120 Speaker 1: trying different things before he found a process that he 137 00:08:49,160 --> 00:08:54,839 Speaker 1: could replicate pretty consistently. And one interesting thing about a 138 00:08:54,960 --> 00:08:59,480 Speaker 1: Pair is that his method worked, but he didn't know 139 00:08:59,679 --> 00:09:03,640 Speaker 1: why it worked. It was weird that he had found 140 00:09:03,640 --> 00:09:07,760 Speaker 1: a way that actually seemed to preserve food effectively, but 141 00:09:07,840 --> 00:09:10,680 Speaker 1: he wasn't sure what the mechanism was. Why did this 142 00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:16,520 Speaker 1: specific process result in food that would stay fresh longer? 143 00:09:17,280 --> 00:09:21,720 Speaker 1: He thought maybe it had something to do with forcing 144 00:09:21,840 --> 00:09:24,200 Speaker 1: air out of the container. He was thinking that, you know, 145 00:09:24,280 --> 00:09:26,400 Speaker 1: wine makers often would do the same thing, that when 146 00:09:26,400 --> 00:09:29,920 Speaker 1: they would bottle wine, they would put the wine bottle 147 00:09:30,920 --> 00:09:35,040 Speaker 1: in a boiling bath in order to force air out 148 00:09:35,080 --> 00:09:39,160 Speaker 1: before quirking it, and that this would prevent the wine 149 00:09:39,160 --> 00:09:41,280 Speaker 1: from going bad if you were storing it for any 150 00:09:41,360 --> 00:09:43,280 Speaker 1: length of time and not you know, just drinking it 151 00:09:43,360 --> 00:09:46,560 Speaker 1: up right away. So he thought, well, maybe the same 152 00:09:46,640 --> 00:09:49,000 Speaker 1: thing is true for food. Maybe it's just the air 153 00:09:49,160 --> 00:09:51,920 Speaker 1: that somehow the air has some sort of corruptible element 154 00:09:52,000 --> 00:09:55,560 Speaker 1: to it. Through his experiments, he figured out that the 155 00:09:55,640 --> 00:09:59,120 Speaker 1: two things that mattered the most, at least that appeared 156 00:09:59,160 --> 00:10:02,160 Speaker 1: to matter the most out of the entire process, was 157 00:10:02,240 --> 00:10:05,080 Speaker 1: that it was important to try and keep the food 158 00:10:05,240 --> 00:10:09,080 Speaker 1: out of contact with quote unquote the exterior air, and 159 00:10:09,120 --> 00:10:11,920 Speaker 1: that the hot water bath was absolutely essential. That if 160 00:10:11,960 --> 00:10:14,720 Speaker 1: you did not put the container in a hot water bath, 161 00:10:15,280 --> 00:10:19,480 Speaker 1: the food would still spoil inside the jar, He still 162 00:10:19,520 --> 00:10:21,880 Speaker 1: wasn't sure why this was the case. That was a 163 00:10:21,880 --> 00:10:25,080 Speaker 1: bit of a pickle. Actually, many methods of pickling involved 164 00:10:25,080 --> 00:10:28,480 Speaker 1: this process. No, it was a pickle because part of 165 00:10:28,520 --> 00:10:31,520 Speaker 1: the requirement for being able to claim those twelve thousand 166 00:10:31,559 --> 00:10:35,640 Speaker 1: francs was that whoever came up with the method needed 167 00:10:35,679 --> 00:10:39,360 Speaker 1: to be able to explain their methodology and actually publish 168 00:10:39,440 --> 00:10:42,440 Speaker 1: it so that everyone could benefit from the discovery. But 169 00:10:42,520 --> 00:10:46,040 Speaker 1: it's very hard to describe why something works when you 170 00:10:46,120 --> 00:10:49,880 Speaker 1: don't understand it yourself. So at Pair did his best, 171 00:10:50,040 --> 00:10:52,840 Speaker 1: and in eighteen ten he published his findings in a 172 00:10:52,880 --> 00:10:56,400 Speaker 1: work that was titled The Art of Preserving All Kinds 173 00:10:56,440 --> 00:11:02,280 Speaker 1: of Animal and Vegetable Substances for many years catchy title. Ultimately, 174 00:11:02,320 --> 00:11:06,199 Speaker 1: while his work described the process and that process was effective, 175 00:11:06,640 --> 00:11:10,440 Speaker 1: it actually missed out on what made it effective. In fact, 176 00:11:10,480 --> 00:11:13,760 Speaker 1: it would be several decades before Louis Pasteur would make 177 00:11:14,000 --> 00:11:17,640 Speaker 1: the discoveries of his own that would explain why canning 178 00:11:17,840 --> 00:11:23,280 Speaker 1: was effective. Pasteur explained that micro organisms were responsible for 179 00:11:23,400 --> 00:11:27,920 Speaker 1: things like spoilage. In fact, he identified that different microbes 180 00:11:27,960 --> 00:11:32,480 Speaker 1: were involved in different fermentation processes. He said, oh, well, 181 00:11:32,480 --> 00:11:35,280 Speaker 1: it's not just one thing, it's different organisms that do 182 00:11:35,400 --> 00:11:39,320 Speaker 1: these different processes. That's why all this stuff works. He 183 00:11:39,320 --> 00:11:42,080 Speaker 1: also discovered that if you were to heat up, say 184 00:11:42,240 --> 00:11:45,240 Speaker 1: foods or liquids to around one hundred twenty to one 185 00:11:45,280 --> 00:11:48,960 Speaker 1: hundred forty degrees fahrenheit or between fifty to sixty degrees celsius, 186 00:11:49,400 --> 00:11:52,280 Speaker 1: it would kill the microbes and it would stop the 187 00:11:52,320 --> 00:11:55,520 Speaker 1: spoiling or the fermenting process. And if you were to seal, 188 00:11:56,280 --> 00:12:00,000 Speaker 1: like hermetically seal the material away from the outside world, 189 00:12:00,240 --> 00:12:04,680 Speaker 1: assuming the seal was good, then the food or liquid 190 00:12:04,679 --> 00:12:06,800 Speaker 1: inside should be good for a very long time. And 191 00:12:06,840 --> 00:12:11,200 Speaker 1: now we call this process pasturization. But old appair this 192 00:12:11,360 --> 00:12:14,000 Speaker 1: was like half a century earlier. It was before Pastor 193 00:12:14,040 --> 00:12:16,400 Speaker 1: had done any of this work. He had no way 194 00:12:16,400 --> 00:12:19,680 Speaker 1: of knowing that what he was doing in his canning 195 00:12:19,720 --> 00:12:22,280 Speaker 1: process was he was killing off these tiny little critters, 196 00:12:22,640 --> 00:12:25,000 Speaker 1: in fact, critters so small they couldn't be seen with 197 00:12:25,040 --> 00:12:28,080 Speaker 1: the naked eye, and thus preventing them from spoiling the 198 00:12:28,080 --> 00:12:31,520 Speaker 1: food that was stored inside these jars. But the important 199 00:12:31,520 --> 00:12:35,760 Speaker 1: thing was it worked. But he was using jars, he 200 00:12:35,840 --> 00:12:39,840 Speaker 1: was not using ten cans. He received the reward of 201 00:12:39,880 --> 00:12:43,160 Speaker 1: twelve thousand francs and he used it to establish a cannery, 202 00:12:43,760 --> 00:12:46,320 Speaker 1: and in fact that business would remain in operation until 203 00:12:46,320 --> 00:12:49,480 Speaker 1: the nineteen thirties. It lasted a more than a century, 204 00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:54,160 Speaker 1: but his part of our story effectively ends here. Now. 205 00:12:54,200 --> 00:12:57,240 Speaker 1: A Pair's process was useful, but his choice of container 206 00:12:57,600 --> 00:13:00,400 Speaker 1: left a little bit to be desired because his glass 207 00:13:00,480 --> 00:13:04,920 Speaker 1: jars are breakable, and what was really needed, especially for 208 00:13:04,960 --> 00:13:10,400 Speaker 1: the purposes of transporting military supplies, was a container that 209 00:13:10,440 --> 00:13:13,400 Speaker 1: would be more resilient, you know, the bumps and knocks 210 00:13:13,400 --> 00:13:18,839 Speaker 1: of travel. Enter the English merchant Peter Durand. So while 211 00:13:18,880 --> 00:13:21,600 Speaker 1: at Pair was getting ready to receive a big old 212 00:13:21,640 --> 00:13:24,960 Speaker 1: pile of francs over in France, Durand was awaiting the 213 00:13:25,000 --> 00:13:28,000 Speaker 1: award of a patent. He had come up with this 214 00:13:28,080 --> 00:13:32,319 Speaker 1: idea to store food in various containers, essentially using a 215 00:13:32,480 --> 00:13:36,920 Speaker 1: Pair's process. But he was thinking that the containers could 216 00:13:36,960 --> 00:13:41,440 Speaker 1: not just be something like a jar or pottery. It 217 00:13:41,480 --> 00:13:45,240 Speaker 1: could actually be made out of metal cans that were 218 00:13:45,280 --> 00:13:48,520 Speaker 1: primarily made out of iron but then coated in a 219 00:13:48,559 --> 00:13:53,080 Speaker 1: thin layer of tin. Durand's patent included the basic process 220 00:13:53,080 --> 00:13:56,160 Speaker 1: of canning, that whatever you wanted to preserve need to 221 00:13:56,200 --> 00:13:59,480 Speaker 1: be put into a container that the container needed to 222 00:13:59,480 --> 00:14:04,480 Speaker 1: be partly but not entirely sealed, an important distinction, and 223 00:14:04,520 --> 00:14:07,079 Speaker 1: then the can and its contents need to be heated up, 224 00:14:07,559 --> 00:14:11,080 Speaker 1: either in an oven or you know, preferably in a 225 00:14:11,320 --> 00:14:14,480 Speaker 1: boiling water bath. He was a little loosey goosey on 226 00:14:14,600 --> 00:14:18,040 Speaker 1: details like how long you needed to heat up the container. 227 00:14:18,360 --> 00:14:20,440 Speaker 1: He would argue that it depended upon the size of 228 00:14:20,480 --> 00:14:23,840 Speaker 1: the container and what you had inside of it. He 229 00:14:23,880 --> 00:14:26,760 Speaker 1: also was lucy goosey on how hot it needed to be, 230 00:14:27,480 --> 00:14:31,440 Speaker 1: but he did say that after this heating process, then 231 00:14:31,480 --> 00:14:34,560 Speaker 1: it needed to be sealed air tight, and it made 232 00:14:34,600 --> 00:14:36,680 Speaker 1: sense that you didn't want to have it sealed before 233 00:14:36,720 --> 00:14:39,480 Speaker 1: he started the heating process, because obviously, if you seal 234 00:14:39,760 --> 00:14:42,880 Speaker 1: the container shut and then you start heating it up 235 00:14:42,960 --> 00:14:45,920 Speaker 1: really hot, you're gonna have pressure building up inside that 236 00:14:46,000 --> 00:14:48,320 Speaker 1: container and next thing you know, you've got yourself a 237 00:14:48,360 --> 00:14:52,960 Speaker 1: boom or a shatter on your hands. So that was 238 00:14:53,000 --> 00:14:56,600 Speaker 1: an important part of it. Now Durand had experimented with 239 00:14:56,640 --> 00:14:59,800 Speaker 1: this process, because the story goes he had heard of 240 00:15:00,080 --> 00:15:06,480 Speaker 1: out the app pair's approach through a colleague of his 241 00:15:06,760 --> 00:15:10,120 Speaker 1: who came from France, and so he hears about this 242 00:15:10,240 --> 00:15:13,560 Speaker 1: process and he's very skeptical at first, so he starts 243 00:15:13,600 --> 00:15:18,000 Speaker 1: to experiment with it himself and he finds that it 244 00:15:18,040 --> 00:15:21,400 Speaker 1: seems to work. So then he tries to get some 245 00:15:22,040 --> 00:15:26,360 Speaker 1: backing from the Royal Societies of the UK, where you 246 00:15:26,400 --> 00:15:30,680 Speaker 1: had these groups of very learned people who were part 247 00:15:30,720 --> 00:15:36,720 Speaker 1: of organizations that we would fund scientific discoveries and scientific advancements. 248 00:15:37,280 --> 00:15:40,960 Speaker 1: So he caned some food. He puts some food inside 249 00:15:41,560 --> 00:15:45,040 Speaker 1: iron cans coated in tin, and he uses the canning 250 00:15:45,120 --> 00:15:48,080 Speaker 1: process to sterilize the cans and the food and then 251 00:15:48,120 --> 00:15:52,440 Speaker 1: to seal it away. And then he has a collection 252 00:15:52,520 --> 00:15:57,120 Speaker 1: of these cans loaded onto a navy vessel that then 253 00:15:57,200 --> 00:15:59,800 Speaker 1: goes off on a voyage of some sort and it's 254 00:15:59,800 --> 00:16:02,840 Speaker 1: gone for like half a year. It does its shippy 255 00:16:02,920 --> 00:16:07,000 Speaker 1: ship stuff and it sails around and then comes back eventually, 256 00:16:07,800 --> 00:16:11,000 Speaker 1: and then Durand and some folks from the Royal Society 257 00:16:11,720 --> 00:16:14,440 Speaker 1: end up going in and they get the ten cans, 258 00:16:14,520 --> 00:16:17,600 Speaker 1: they hack them open and they find that yes, indeed, 259 00:16:18,200 --> 00:16:20,680 Speaker 1: half a year later, the food that was stored inside 260 00:16:20,720 --> 00:16:25,400 Speaker 1: those cans is still good. It's still edible, it's unspoiled. 261 00:16:25,880 --> 00:16:29,840 Speaker 1: So Durand gets his patent in eighteen ten, same time 262 00:16:29,880 --> 00:16:33,160 Speaker 1: that a pair is getting his reward from France. And 263 00:16:33,200 --> 00:16:38,280 Speaker 1: this is when we say that food in ten cans originates. 264 00:16:38,360 --> 00:16:43,120 Speaker 1: It's in eighteen ten. Effectively, Durand sold his patent to 265 00:16:43,160 --> 00:16:45,640 Speaker 1: some businessmen. He did not go into business for himself 266 00:16:45,680 --> 00:16:49,080 Speaker 1: to become a canner. Instead he sells it to a 267 00:16:49,120 --> 00:16:54,000 Speaker 1: couple of entrepreneurs who looked to turn this process into 268 00:16:54,080 --> 00:16:58,440 Speaker 1: a profitable business. Now they were already familiar with the 269 00:16:58,480 --> 00:17:02,920 Speaker 1: process of ten So tenning is when you actually apply 270 00:17:03,040 --> 00:17:07,000 Speaker 1: a very thin coating of tin to some other material, 271 00:17:07,440 --> 00:17:12,120 Speaker 1: typically iron or steel. So the iron or steel provides 272 00:17:12,200 --> 00:17:16,320 Speaker 1: durability and strength, right, it's a very strong metal, But 273 00:17:16,640 --> 00:17:21,520 Speaker 1: the problem is these metals are prone to corrosion, to rusting. 274 00:17:22,240 --> 00:17:25,919 Speaker 1: Tin is not nearly as strong as iron or steel, 275 00:17:26,480 --> 00:17:30,320 Speaker 1: but it also is resistant to corrosion. So by applying 276 00:17:30,359 --> 00:17:35,520 Speaker 1: a thin layer of tin to an iron or steel surface, 277 00:17:36,160 --> 00:17:39,240 Speaker 1: you can benefit from the strength of the underlying material 278 00:17:39,640 --> 00:17:43,600 Speaker 1: while protecting against rust and with the corrosive nature of 279 00:17:43,720 --> 00:17:46,560 Speaker 1: some foods. Like some foods are really acidic, for example, 280 00:17:47,240 --> 00:17:51,119 Speaker 1: or really salty, a coating of tin is absolutely necessary 281 00:17:51,160 --> 00:17:56,119 Speaker 1: to protect the material from actually eating through the can itself, 282 00:17:56,320 --> 00:18:00,240 Speaker 1: like to cause corrosion. The whole point of the can 283 00:18:00,440 --> 00:18:02,720 Speaker 1: was to keep food preserved and safe to eat. It 284 00:18:02,720 --> 00:18:07,280 Speaker 1: would hardly be safe if the food actually ate the can. 285 00:18:08,040 --> 00:18:11,280 Speaker 1: But these early cans, as you might imagine, were really 286 00:18:11,320 --> 00:18:15,520 Speaker 1: thick and heavy and hard to get into, right. I mean, 287 00:18:15,560 --> 00:18:18,880 Speaker 1: we're talking about cans made out of iron and then 288 00:18:18,960 --> 00:18:21,520 Speaker 1: coated in ten and often these early ones were made, 289 00:18:22,119 --> 00:18:25,760 Speaker 1: you know, by hand. There was not like a process, 290 00:18:25,880 --> 00:18:29,320 Speaker 1: a mechanical process to make the cans that was really 291 00:18:29,720 --> 00:18:33,359 Speaker 1: easy to repeat. But they were effective. They could keep 292 00:18:33,440 --> 00:18:37,480 Speaker 1: food safe inside, and the food wasn't just safe from spoilage, 293 00:18:37,520 --> 00:18:40,639 Speaker 1: it was largely safe from being eaten because getting to 294 00:18:40,720 --> 00:18:45,280 Speaker 1: the food was really hard. The general approach to getting 295 00:18:45,280 --> 00:18:47,840 Speaker 1: into one of these cans was to bust out a 296 00:18:47,880 --> 00:18:50,520 Speaker 1: hammer and chisel and you just go to town on 297 00:18:50,560 --> 00:18:52,480 Speaker 1: the top of that can in an effort to get 298 00:18:52,480 --> 00:18:55,560 Speaker 1: into the food inside. Like there was no can opener, 299 00:18:55,600 --> 00:18:58,359 Speaker 1: there was no pull tab. There was nothing that you 300 00:18:58,400 --> 00:19:02,600 Speaker 1: could use to open these cans apart from tools at 301 00:19:02,640 --> 00:19:06,679 Speaker 1: your disposal to cut in, pierce the lid, pry it 302 00:19:06,760 --> 00:19:11,560 Speaker 1: off and hopefully not spill all the food in the process. 303 00:19:12,200 --> 00:19:15,000 Speaker 1: The canning process in general and the use of ten 304 00:19:15,320 --> 00:19:19,840 Speaker 1: cans in particular slowly spread throughout the UK and Europe, 305 00:19:20,240 --> 00:19:23,680 Speaker 1: and a few years later, like around eighteen eighteen or so, 306 00:19:24,200 --> 00:19:28,439 Speaker 1: it reached America. The first American patent for ten cans 307 00:19:29,160 --> 00:19:32,359 Speaker 1: goes out in eighteen twenty five. It was awarded to 308 00:19:32,400 --> 00:19:35,920 Speaker 1: an Englishman named Thomas Kinnett, who had built his own 309 00:19:35,960 --> 00:19:39,439 Speaker 1: canning business back in Old Blightie and decided that he 310 00:19:39,520 --> 00:19:43,000 Speaker 1: wanted to expand over to the New World as well. Now, 311 00:19:43,040 --> 00:19:46,919 Speaker 1: despite the spread of the practice of canning itself, the 312 00:19:46,960 --> 00:19:53,199 Speaker 1: proliferation of ten cans actually moved fairly slowly. Complicating matters 313 00:19:53,240 --> 00:19:55,400 Speaker 1: was that it would take time for engineers to develop 314 00:19:55,560 --> 00:19:59,800 Speaker 1: methods to mass produce cans. So in the early days 315 00:19:59,840 --> 00:20:07,440 Speaker 1: of producing tenned cans, the methods in employment would allow 316 00:20:07,480 --> 00:20:10,920 Speaker 1: for about six cans to be produced in an hour 317 00:20:11,119 --> 00:20:14,040 Speaker 1: at a single station. Six cans in an hour is 318 00:20:14,119 --> 00:20:18,199 Speaker 1: not very much. You can't mass produce at that speed. 319 00:20:19,240 --> 00:20:22,480 Speaker 1: A man named Henry Evans would end up creating a 320 00:20:22,520 --> 00:20:26,680 Speaker 1: way to make cans at much faster speeds using a die. 321 00:20:27,520 --> 00:20:30,439 Speaker 1: This was not the same Henry Evans that McCauley culkin 322 00:20:30,480 --> 00:20:33,239 Speaker 1: would play in the film The Good Son, though, if 323 00:20:33,280 --> 00:20:35,520 Speaker 1: you are not careful with your search terms. When you're 324 00:20:35,560 --> 00:20:38,600 Speaker 1: searching for research about this person, you're going to end 325 00:20:38,640 --> 00:20:42,440 Speaker 1: up with a lot of villain wikis about the fictional 326 00:20:42,520 --> 00:20:45,480 Speaker 1: character Henry Evans from The Good Son. I know because 327 00:20:46,200 --> 00:20:48,960 Speaker 1: I kept wondering why McCauley Culkin was popping up while 328 00:20:48,960 --> 00:20:52,399 Speaker 1: I was trying to search the history of tend can manufacturing. 329 00:20:53,080 --> 00:20:56,639 Speaker 1: Though the actual historical Henry Evans was active in the 330 00:20:56,680 --> 00:21:01,040 Speaker 1: eighteen forties and he used a dye to significantly speed 331 00:21:01,119 --> 00:21:04,760 Speaker 1: up tin can production. Now, a die is a tool 332 00:21:04,960 --> 00:21:09,159 Speaker 1: in machinery that allows to form or cut metal into 333 00:21:09,320 --> 00:21:12,120 Speaker 1: a specific shape. And there are lots of different kinds 334 00:21:12,280 --> 00:21:17,320 Speaker 1: of dyes. Like some dies are a piece of metal 335 00:21:17,359 --> 00:21:21,359 Speaker 1: that has a very small hole cut into it, and 336 00:21:21,400 --> 00:21:25,240 Speaker 1: you draw other metal through this hole in order to 337 00:21:25,400 --> 00:21:30,200 Speaker 1: form wire, for example. That's the type of die. There 338 00:21:30,280 --> 00:21:35,080 Speaker 1: are casting dies. These dyes are used to create molds, right, 339 00:21:35,160 --> 00:21:39,040 Speaker 1: So this is like a form that you have and 340 00:21:39,080 --> 00:21:41,919 Speaker 1: then you create a mold around that form. Then you 341 00:21:42,040 --> 00:21:46,359 Speaker 1: use that mold to cast copies of the die's shape 342 00:21:46,400 --> 00:21:49,800 Speaker 1: to make whatever you know, component you're trying to make. 343 00:21:50,960 --> 00:21:54,680 Speaker 1: And then there was a third type of die still 344 00:21:54,720 --> 00:21:57,159 Speaker 1: is a third type of die called stamping dyes, and 345 00:21:57,200 --> 00:22:00,800 Speaker 1: these are used with a mechanical press and you stamp 346 00:22:01,520 --> 00:22:05,600 Speaker 1: material into a specific shape. So the de that Henry 347 00:22:05,600 --> 00:22:10,080 Speaker 1: Evans made to produce ten cans was of this last type. 348 00:22:10,119 --> 00:22:14,720 Speaker 1: It was a stamping dye, and thus, using a pressing 349 00:22:14,760 --> 00:22:17,399 Speaker 1: machine and the right dye and the right material, a 350 00:22:17,440 --> 00:22:20,280 Speaker 1: worker could make a brand new tin can with one 351 00:22:20,320 --> 00:22:23,640 Speaker 1: operation of this press. So what had started out as 352 00:22:23,680 --> 00:22:28,280 Speaker 1: a six cans per hour job per station now became 353 00:22:28,640 --> 00:22:32,800 Speaker 1: sixty per hour using a single machine, and a manufacturing 354 00:22:32,800 --> 00:22:35,640 Speaker 1: facility might have several of these presses, so it became 355 00:22:35,680 --> 00:22:39,160 Speaker 1: possible to produce cans on a much larger scale. We're 356 00:22:39,200 --> 00:22:42,720 Speaker 1: still not in like the modern era of mass manufacture, 357 00:22:43,240 --> 00:22:46,560 Speaker 1: but it now became more of a practical technology. Right 358 00:22:46,720 --> 00:22:49,680 Speaker 1: like before, if you were only able to produce six 359 00:22:49,800 --> 00:22:53,400 Speaker 1: cans in an hour per station, you're probably not producing 360 00:22:53,480 --> 00:22:57,399 Speaker 1: enough to make a huge difference, Like you'd be dedicating 361 00:22:57,480 --> 00:23:01,240 Speaker 1: your work to probably a very specific purpose such as 362 00:23:02,320 --> 00:23:06,399 Speaker 1: canning foods for the military, but not for the average person. 363 00:23:06,960 --> 00:23:09,680 Speaker 1: Now you were able to do this at a bigger scale. 364 00:23:09,880 --> 00:23:12,959 Speaker 1: It was starting to open up more opportunities. Around that 365 00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:16,600 Speaker 1: same time, another inventor named Alan Taylor patented a machine 366 00:23:16,600 --> 00:23:21,440 Speaker 1: that could produce cylindrical can ends, so like the top 367 00:23:21,480 --> 00:23:25,360 Speaker 1: and bottom of the cans. So you had Evans method 368 00:23:25,600 --> 00:23:28,639 Speaker 1: that produced the body of the ten can, and you 369 00:23:28,680 --> 00:23:31,960 Speaker 1: had Taylor's method that would produce the ends of the can. 370 00:23:32,359 --> 00:23:35,280 Speaker 1: We were really in business now, even though we still 371 00:23:35,320 --> 00:23:39,400 Speaker 1: didn't have an actual can opener. Another big development happened 372 00:23:39,800 --> 00:23:44,000 Speaker 1: in the mid eighteen fifties when Henry Besmer discovered how 373 00:23:44,040 --> 00:23:49,080 Speaker 1: to process cast iron into steel, so steel would become 374 00:23:49,480 --> 00:23:52,600 Speaker 1: the preferred method to provide the stability for tin cans 375 00:23:52,760 --> 00:23:55,600 Speaker 1: rather than iron, and you could use a whole lot 376 00:23:55,680 --> 00:23:59,280 Speaker 1: less steel to provide that same level of stability, and 377 00:23:59,320 --> 00:24:03,119 Speaker 1: thus you could significantly reduce the weight and the thickness 378 00:24:03,280 --> 00:24:06,679 Speaker 1: of the cans, which would make them much more practical 379 00:24:07,080 --> 00:24:11,360 Speaker 1: for common use. Further down the line, now we're right 380 00:24:11,400 --> 00:24:14,199 Speaker 1: on the verge of it. It was an eighteen fifty 381 00:24:14,240 --> 00:24:17,520 Speaker 1: eight that's when we get our hero at least as 382 00:24:17,520 --> 00:24:20,600 Speaker 1: far as can openers goes, because from eighteen ten to 383 00:24:20,640 --> 00:24:25,760 Speaker 1: eighteen fifty eight, for nearly fifty years, we had this 384 00:24:25,880 --> 00:24:31,600 Speaker 1: approach to preserving food in ten plated iron cans. But 385 00:24:31,680 --> 00:24:34,199 Speaker 1: we did not have a dedicated means of opening the 386 00:24:34,240 --> 00:24:37,119 Speaker 1: cans apart from brute force and a hammer and chisel. 387 00:24:37,640 --> 00:24:41,600 Speaker 1: But in eighteen fifty eight we get the brilliant Ezra J. 388 00:24:41,960 --> 00:24:44,800 Speaker 1: Warner from the United States with a patent on a 389 00:24:44,840 --> 00:24:50,160 Speaker 1: device that would serve as the first dedicated can opener. 390 00:24:51,119 --> 00:24:54,199 Speaker 1: I'll tell you more about that can opener in just 391 00:24:54,359 --> 00:24:56,280 Speaker 1: a moment, but we're going to take a quick break 392 00:24:56,320 --> 00:25:08,359 Speaker 1: to thank our sponsors. Okay, before the break, I mentioned 393 00:25:08,359 --> 00:25:11,879 Speaker 1: that in eighteen fifty eight, ezra J. Warner gets a 394 00:25:11,920 --> 00:25:16,359 Speaker 1: patent for a dedicated can opener. It did not look 395 00:25:16,440 --> 00:25:18,960 Speaker 1: like the type of can opener that you typically use today, 396 00:25:19,080 --> 00:25:22,560 Speaker 1: the kind that has the handles and the little the 397 00:25:22,720 --> 00:25:25,119 Speaker 1: twisty key like device and you put it at the 398 00:25:25,119 --> 00:25:28,040 Speaker 1: top of the can and you squeeze the handles together 399 00:25:28,119 --> 00:25:30,399 Speaker 1: and it pierces the can, and you turned the little 400 00:25:30,720 --> 00:25:33,000 Speaker 1: key like device and it rotates the can and you 401 00:25:33,200 --> 00:25:36,600 Speaker 1: open it up. No, it didn't look anything like that. Instead, 402 00:25:36,720 --> 00:25:39,879 Speaker 1: it was what folks would later describe as a bayonet 403 00:25:40,000 --> 00:25:44,520 Speaker 1: and sickle style can opener. So part of this can 404 00:25:44,600 --> 00:25:48,440 Speaker 1: opener had a piece of metal that came to a point, 405 00:25:48,960 --> 00:25:52,560 Speaker 1: and you would use this point this bayonet to pierce 406 00:25:52,720 --> 00:25:54,960 Speaker 1: a hole in the lid of the can, and typically 407 00:25:54,960 --> 00:25:58,720 Speaker 1: you were aiming at near the edge of the can, 408 00:25:59,200 --> 00:26:01,720 Speaker 1: right near the edge of the top of the lid, 409 00:26:03,040 --> 00:26:06,320 Speaker 1: so you pierce the lid. Then you would insert the 410 00:26:06,480 --> 00:26:10,359 Speaker 1: sickle shaped part of the can opener into the hole 411 00:26:10,480 --> 00:26:14,000 Speaker 1: you just made, and using a sawing motion, you know, 412 00:26:14,960 --> 00:26:18,000 Speaker 1: using the end of the handle as like a lever, 413 00:26:18,600 --> 00:26:21,520 Speaker 1: and pushing down and pulling up over and over and 414 00:26:21,560 --> 00:26:25,960 Speaker 1: over again, you would force the blade of the sickle 415 00:26:26,280 --> 00:26:30,440 Speaker 1: to cut through the tinned lid of your can. Now, 416 00:26:30,480 --> 00:26:34,399 Speaker 1: according to Ezra's patent. This is quoting directly from the 417 00:26:34,440 --> 00:26:38,840 Speaker 1: patent quote A child may use it without difficulty or 418 00:26:38,960 --> 00:26:45,560 Speaker 1: risk end quote. However, a cursory examination of contemporary reports 419 00:26:45,600 --> 00:26:48,280 Speaker 1: about this can opener, as well as the practice of 420 00:26:48,440 --> 00:26:52,160 Speaker 1: what Grossers did at the time, suggests that maybe Ezra 421 00:26:52,359 --> 00:26:55,119 Speaker 1: was being a little overly generous with his assessment of 422 00:26:55,160 --> 00:26:58,600 Speaker 1: how easy his invention was to use, because most accounts 423 00:26:58,600 --> 00:27:01,960 Speaker 1: say that the mines of the tin can, once you 424 00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:05,440 Speaker 1: were done using this can opener on them, were jagged 425 00:27:05,640 --> 00:27:08,680 Speaker 1: and sharp. There are more than a few articles that 426 00:27:08,720 --> 00:27:11,200 Speaker 1: would joke about you had to be careful you could 427 00:27:11,240 --> 00:27:14,080 Speaker 1: lose a finger in the process of trying to remove 428 00:27:14,200 --> 00:27:17,880 Speaker 1: the lid that you had just sawn off the end 429 00:27:17,880 --> 00:27:20,800 Speaker 1: of the can. Soldiers in the Civil War used the 430 00:27:20,840 --> 00:27:22,639 Speaker 1: tool because, you know, they were already in a pretty 431 00:27:22,720 --> 00:27:26,439 Speaker 1: dangerous situation, so throwing in the potential to lose a 432 00:27:26,480 --> 00:27:29,720 Speaker 1: finger while getting at your beans was just part of 433 00:27:29,080 --> 00:27:33,160 Speaker 1: the joys of war. I guess. The can openers were 434 00:27:33,200 --> 00:27:36,199 Speaker 1: not sold to the general public. In fact, if you 435 00:27:36,200 --> 00:27:39,360 Speaker 1: were to go to a grocer's as a regular citizen 436 00:27:39,920 --> 00:27:42,320 Speaker 1: and you wanted to buy something that was in a tin, 437 00:27:42,920 --> 00:27:45,359 Speaker 1: the grocer would actually go ahead and open the tin 438 00:27:45,680 --> 00:27:48,680 Speaker 1: for you right there in the store. I'm assuming you 439 00:27:48,680 --> 00:27:51,320 Speaker 1: would transfer the contents to something else, like a jar. 440 00:27:52,359 --> 00:27:55,959 Speaker 1: But the reason for this was because you know, it 441 00:27:56,000 --> 00:27:59,000 Speaker 1: required a bit of practice to get these cans open, 442 00:27:59,560 --> 00:28:02,400 Speaker 1: and it required a lot of care to make sure 443 00:28:02,440 --> 00:28:06,639 Speaker 1: you did so without cutting yourself. So again, this was 444 00:28:06,680 --> 00:28:09,240 Speaker 1: not something that was sold to the general public. The 445 00:28:09,320 --> 00:28:13,119 Speaker 1: advancements in ten can manufacturing meant that the cans themselves 446 00:28:13,640 --> 00:28:17,080 Speaker 1: were becoming much more thin and light weight, and there 447 00:28:17,080 --> 00:28:20,639 Speaker 1: were new methods made to a fix a lid to 448 00:28:20,760 --> 00:28:24,040 Speaker 1: the top of a can. This also would improve things 449 00:28:24,640 --> 00:28:28,639 Speaker 1: quite a bit. These methods meant the lids weren't harder 450 00:28:28,640 --> 00:28:31,080 Speaker 1: to get into than Fort Knox the way they had 451 00:28:31,119 --> 00:28:33,600 Speaker 1: been in the past. So you can actually create an 452 00:28:33,600 --> 00:28:38,920 Speaker 1: alternative to the separate can opener, and in eighteen sixty 453 00:28:38,960 --> 00:28:43,280 Speaker 1: six a guy named Jay Osterholt received a patent for 454 00:28:43,320 --> 00:28:46,560 Speaker 1: a new type of ten can, one where you could 455 00:28:46,680 --> 00:28:49,920 Speaker 1: use a key opener with the can. Either the key 456 00:28:49,920 --> 00:28:53,080 Speaker 1: would already be attached to the can, or you'd insert 457 00:28:53,120 --> 00:28:54,920 Speaker 1: the flap of metal into the key and then bend 458 00:28:54,960 --> 00:28:57,160 Speaker 1: it around the end of the key. Then you just 459 00:28:57,200 --> 00:28:59,959 Speaker 1: twist the key. So it's sort of a predecessor to 460 00:29:00,080 --> 00:29:02,520 Speaker 1: the poll tab opener that you see on a lot 461 00:29:02,560 --> 00:29:05,560 Speaker 1: of cans these days. You can actually still find some 462 00:29:05,640 --> 00:29:08,080 Speaker 1: types of tin foods that have a version of the 463 00:29:08,160 --> 00:29:13,160 Speaker 1: key opener, like stuff like ten sardines often have a 464 00:29:13,240 --> 00:29:16,920 Speaker 1: key opener on the lid, and as the name implies, 465 00:29:17,440 --> 00:29:22,000 Speaker 1: the lid of the can has a little protrusion essentially 466 00:29:22,040 --> 00:29:25,360 Speaker 1: that's shaped like a key, and it's either already attached 467 00:29:25,360 --> 00:29:26,920 Speaker 1: to the lid or you attach it the way I 468 00:29:27,000 --> 00:29:30,200 Speaker 1: just mentioned. When you twist the key, it starts to 469 00:29:30,240 --> 00:29:33,200 Speaker 1: pry the lid off from the top of the ten, 470 00:29:33,560 --> 00:29:36,080 Speaker 1: at least it's supposed to. I've never actually had much 471 00:29:36,160 --> 00:29:39,800 Speaker 1: luck with these, but that's probably because I'm also left handed. 472 00:29:40,080 --> 00:29:42,160 Speaker 1: Then I find it really awkward to hold the can 473 00:29:42,240 --> 00:29:44,440 Speaker 1: and twist the key the way you're supposed to, because 474 00:29:44,480 --> 00:29:48,040 Speaker 1: I want to do it the opposite way. So it's 475 00:29:48,160 --> 00:29:52,000 Speaker 1: really frustrating for me to try and access these cans. 476 00:29:52,720 --> 00:29:56,920 Speaker 1: But that's a me problem. Generally speaking, they worked really well, 477 00:29:56,960 --> 00:29:58,840 Speaker 1: and actually a lot of different companies came up with 478 00:29:58,920 --> 00:30:04,120 Speaker 1: different variations of this idea. So for a while, a 479 00:30:04,120 --> 00:30:06,640 Speaker 1: lot of the cans that were coming out had some 480 00:30:06,960 --> 00:30:12,080 Speaker 1: form of key used to peel back a lid so 481 00:30:12,080 --> 00:30:14,480 Speaker 1: that you could get access to what was inside, and 482 00:30:15,320 --> 00:30:17,920 Speaker 1: that was the primary way people got access to the 483 00:30:17,960 --> 00:30:20,600 Speaker 1: food that were inside tended cans, at least for the 484 00:30:20,640 --> 00:30:24,720 Speaker 1: general consumer. For things like commercial purposes like restaurants, or 485 00:30:25,240 --> 00:30:28,680 Speaker 1: again like big organizations like the military, it was a 486 00:30:28,680 --> 00:30:32,280 Speaker 1: different story. But for the general consumer that became kind 487 00:30:32,320 --> 00:30:35,560 Speaker 1: of the go too. Now. Other inventors were still working 488 00:30:35,600 --> 00:30:38,440 Speaker 1: to improve the design that Ezra Warner had come up 489 00:30:38,480 --> 00:30:41,760 Speaker 1: with with the first can opener. One design I saw 490 00:30:41,880 --> 00:30:44,600 Speaker 1: was kind of interesting. It also had a bayonet style 491 00:30:44,760 --> 00:30:48,240 Speaker 1: piercer component to it. This will be a little tricky 492 00:30:48,280 --> 00:30:50,600 Speaker 1: to explain in audio, but I'll give it a go. 493 00:30:51,040 --> 00:30:55,520 Speaker 1: So imagine that you have a can opener that's essentially 494 00:30:55,560 --> 00:30:59,280 Speaker 1: a handle, and it extends out at one point. You 495 00:30:59,400 --> 00:31:04,120 Speaker 1: have an adjustable blade. It can move, you know, up 496 00:31:04,240 --> 00:31:07,560 Speaker 1: or down the length of the can opener. At the 497 00:31:07,680 --> 00:31:11,560 Speaker 1: very end of this tool, you have a hook, a 498 00:31:11,600 --> 00:31:14,320 Speaker 1: sharp hook. And what you do is you take a 499 00:31:14,320 --> 00:31:16,960 Speaker 1: can and instead of trying to poke a hole near 500 00:31:17,040 --> 00:31:20,920 Speaker 1: the edge of the tin, which is the way Ezra's 501 00:31:21,480 --> 00:31:23,760 Speaker 1: can opener worked, you would try and poke a hole 502 00:31:24,240 --> 00:31:28,040 Speaker 1: in the center of the lid and the hook would 503 00:31:28,080 --> 00:31:32,400 Speaker 1: stay in that hole. Meanwhile, you would adjust the blade 504 00:31:32,720 --> 00:31:34,640 Speaker 1: that can move up or down the length of the 505 00:31:34,640 --> 00:31:37,160 Speaker 1: can opener so that it would be right at the 506 00:31:37,600 --> 00:31:41,000 Speaker 1: edge of the can's lid, so like right up against 507 00:31:41,000 --> 00:31:44,240 Speaker 1: the lip of the can, and you would press down 508 00:31:45,520 --> 00:31:49,120 Speaker 1: using the can opener like a lever, and pierce the 509 00:31:49,120 --> 00:31:53,560 Speaker 1: blade into the edge of the can. Then you would 510 00:31:54,160 --> 00:31:59,200 Speaker 1: twist the can and or you know, move the can 511 00:31:59,240 --> 00:32:03,000 Speaker 1: opener in a circular direction around the can, and you 512 00:32:03,040 --> 00:32:07,280 Speaker 1: would physically cut through the can lid so the hook 513 00:32:07,560 --> 00:32:10,040 Speaker 1: would remain pierced in the center of the lid. It 514 00:32:10,080 --> 00:32:11,920 Speaker 1: would act as sort of like a hub. I think 515 00:32:11,960 --> 00:32:16,160 Speaker 1: of it almost like the spindle on a turntable with 516 00:32:16,280 --> 00:32:19,480 Speaker 1: a record album. The hook would remain there and the 517 00:32:19,520 --> 00:32:22,000 Speaker 1: blade would be on the edge of the tin, and 518 00:32:22,120 --> 00:32:26,440 Speaker 1: you would just twist the can and push the handle 519 00:32:26,480 --> 00:32:29,280 Speaker 1: of the can opener to start cutting your way around 520 00:32:29,280 --> 00:32:32,280 Speaker 1: this circumference of the can. And at the end you 521 00:32:32,320 --> 00:32:34,360 Speaker 1: could use that little hook in the center of the 522 00:32:34,400 --> 00:32:36,680 Speaker 1: lid to help lift the lid out of the can 523 00:32:36,760 --> 00:32:39,880 Speaker 1: and get access to the food inside. Again, you would 524 00:32:39,920 --> 00:32:42,440 Speaker 1: end up with some pretty sharp edges. But I actually 525 00:32:42,480 --> 00:32:47,240 Speaker 1: really dug the simplicity of this design. There are lots 526 00:32:47,240 --> 00:32:50,160 Speaker 1: of videos online by the way of vintage can openers 527 00:32:50,160 --> 00:32:53,480 Speaker 1: and folks demonstrating how these would work. Again, I would 528 00:32:53,480 --> 00:32:55,760 Speaker 1: probably have a lot of trouble with them because it 529 00:32:55,800 --> 00:32:58,080 Speaker 1: looks like most of them were made for right handers, 530 00:32:58,360 --> 00:33:01,320 Speaker 1: so I would want to try and push the wrong way, 531 00:33:01,440 --> 00:33:03,880 Speaker 1: which means the dull side of the blade would be 532 00:33:04,120 --> 00:33:07,080 Speaker 1: what I'd be pushing against. I wouldn't get anywhere, But 533 00:33:07,320 --> 00:33:10,480 Speaker 1: they are really really cool. Then we get to a 534 00:33:10,520 --> 00:33:15,640 Speaker 1: guy named William Lyman around eighteen seventy, an old Billy 535 00:33:15,760 --> 00:33:18,600 Speaker 1: created a can opener similar to the one I just described, 536 00:33:18,960 --> 00:33:22,040 Speaker 1: where you would use a bayonet like hook protrusion on 537 00:33:22,120 --> 00:33:25,080 Speaker 1: the end to pierce the center of the tin lid, 538 00:33:25,800 --> 00:33:28,880 Speaker 1: and near the edge of the tin, you had again 539 00:33:28,920 --> 00:33:32,800 Speaker 1: an adjustable blade, but this blade was shaped like a wheel, 540 00:33:33,400 --> 00:33:36,760 Speaker 1: so it's not just a razor sharp blade that you 541 00:33:36,760 --> 00:33:39,840 Speaker 1: would pierce into the edge of the can. It was 542 00:33:39,880 --> 00:33:43,080 Speaker 1: a wheeled blade, and you'd push down hard enough to 543 00:33:43,160 --> 00:33:45,719 Speaker 1: make that piercing and you would turn the can, and 544 00:33:45,760 --> 00:33:49,320 Speaker 1: the wheeled blade would also turn as you were rotating 545 00:33:49,320 --> 00:33:51,480 Speaker 1: the can and cut through the top of the lid. 546 00:33:51,960 --> 00:33:56,680 Speaker 1: That wheeled blade would become a main component of modern 547 00:33:56,760 --> 00:33:59,560 Speaker 1: can openers, but at this stage in the eighteen seventies, 548 00:34:00,120 --> 00:34:03,880 Speaker 1: still looking at a pretty simple, purely mechanical gadget. Now, 549 00:34:03,920 --> 00:34:08,200 Speaker 1: the process for manufacturing cans continue to advance significantly over 550 00:34:08,320 --> 00:34:11,520 Speaker 1: the following decades, with companies finding new ways to make 551 00:34:11,560 --> 00:34:16,000 Speaker 1: cans quickly and efficiently and consistently and out of progressively 552 00:34:16,120 --> 00:34:20,959 Speaker 1: thinner materials while still being sturdy and stable and most 553 00:34:21,000 --> 00:34:26,800 Speaker 1: importantly hermetically sealed. Various methods to affix lids to cans 554 00:34:26,800 --> 00:34:30,080 Speaker 1: were being developed and deployed over the years. The humble 555 00:34:30,120 --> 00:34:32,960 Speaker 1: can opener would also see lots of different variations as well, 556 00:34:33,480 --> 00:34:36,040 Speaker 1: though nearly all of them involved putting in a pretty 557 00:34:36,080 --> 00:34:38,960 Speaker 1: good amount of elbow grease to get the stuff what 558 00:34:39,200 --> 00:34:42,880 Speaker 1: was inside the can safely out of it while also 559 00:34:43,239 --> 00:34:46,719 Speaker 1: you know, keeping all your fingers intact in the process. 560 00:34:48,120 --> 00:34:53,640 Speaker 1: So the next big advancement for can openers wouldn't happen 561 00:34:53,719 --> 00:34:57,120 Speaker 1: until nineteen thirty one. So remember we were just in 562 00:34:57,200 --> 00:34:59,920 Speaker 1: eighteen seventy. Now we're all the way up to night 563 00:35:00,080 --> 00:35:02,440 Speaker 1: teen thirty one, and there were a couple of big 564 00:35:02,719 --> 00:35:06,799 Speaker 1: advancements that happened right around this time. First up was 565 00:35:06,840 --> 00:35:09,520 Speaker 1: the invention of a guy named Charles Arthur Bunker, who 566 00:35:09,520 --> 00:35:12,719 Speaker 1: got a patent in nineteen thirty one for this approach. 567 00:35:13,760 --> 00:35:18,080 Speaker 1: So it was Bunker who created a toothed wheel system 568 00:35:18,200 --> 00:35:23,080 Speaker 1: like gears inside the can opener. So you would position 569 00:35:23,120 --> 00:35:25,279 Speaker 1: the can opener blade on the edge of a tin 570 00:35:25,400 --> 00:35:29,680 Speaker 1: lid held in place by the can's lip, and you know, 571 00:35:29,800 --> 00:35:31,919 Speaker 1: using leverage, you would pierce the lid of the tin 572 00:35:32,719 --> 00:35:37,280 Speaker 1: and the geared wheels would actually grip the edge of 573 00:35:37,400 --> 00:35:42,880 Speaker 1: the can's lid like that little lip. So they're gripping together, 574 00:35:42,960 --> 00:35:46,239 Speaker 1: and when you would turn a handle on the end 575 00:35:46,239 --> 00:35:48,919 Speaker 1: of the can opener, it would turn one of these 576 00:35:48,960 --> 00:35:51,319 Speaker 1: two gears, and the other gear would also end up 577 00:35:51,360 --> 00:35:54,799 Speaker 1: having to turn and this would force it would you know, 578 00:35:54,920 --> 00:35:58,880 Speaker 1: pinch the can and force it to rotate, and thus 579 00:35:58,920 --> 00:36:01,560 Speaker 1: it would be pressed again. And it's this wheeled blade 580 00:36:01,840 --> 00:36:03,840 Speaker 1: that was part of the can opener, So you'd have 581 00:36:03,880 --> 00:36:06,319 Speaker 1: to twist like a dozen times or so and you 582 00:36:06,320 --> 00:36:09,800 Speaker 1: would have yourself an open can. The geared wheel component 583 00:36:10,480 --> 00:36:14,640 Speaker 1: became the other major part of modern day manual can openers, 584 00:36:15,800 --> 00:36:19,000 Speaker 1: coupled with that wheeled blade that came from William Lyman's 585 00:36:19,000 --> 00:36:22,200 Speaker 1: invention in eighteen seventy. Now I need to mention there 586 00:36:22,239 --> 00:36:25,800 Speaker 1: was actually another company that was using a dual wheel 587 00:36:25,960 --> 00:36:30,280 Speaker 1: mechanism to grip a can for the purposes of cutting 588 00:36:30,360 --> 00:36:33,080 Speaker 1: the lid open. And the company that made this was 589 00:36:33,120 --> 00:36:36,719 Speaker 1: called the Star can Opener Company, And in fact, they 590 00:36:37,080 --> 00:36:42,240 Speaker 1: sued Bunker's own company, the Bunker Clancy Company, because they said, well, 591 00:36:42,400 --> 00:36:46,799 Speaker 1: we already made this invention, this mechanism of using this 592 00:36:46,880 --> 00:36:49,759 Speaker 1: weeld system to grip a can so that when you 593 00:36:49,840 --> 00:36:52,080 Speaker 1: turn a handle, you rotate the can and you can 594 00:36:52,120 --> 00:36:55,040 Speaker 1: cut it open. So Bunker didn't actually invent that we 595 00:36:55,120 --> 00:36:59,279 Speaker 1: did six years ago, but the lawsuit got thrown out 596 00:36:59,400 --> 00:37:01,960 Speaker 1: for some reason or another. I'm not sure what happened, 597 00:37:02,560 --> 00:37:05,440 Speaker 1: and it is weird that this company that had an 598 00:37:05,520 --> 00:37:11,600 Speaker 1: invention that predated the patent by six years was essentially dismissed. Anyway, 599 00:37:11,640 --> 00:37:15,239 Speaker 1: those gears made all the difference, I guess in that lawsuit. 600 00:37:15,280 --> 00:37:18,719 Speaker 1: And Bunker's company would also introduce the world's first electric 601 00:37:18,920 --> 00:37:23,919 Speaker 1: can opener, also in nineteen thirty one, and it too 602 00:37:24,200 --> 00:37:26,920 Speaker 1: used those geared wheels to grip onto the lip of 603 00:37:26,960 --> 00:37:29,960 Speaker 1: a tin can lid, and in this case, instead of 604 00:37:29,960 --> 00:37:32,799 Speaker 1: having to manually turn a little handle over and over 605 00:37:32,840 --> 00:37:36,440 Speaker 1: and over again, electricity would power a motor to make 606 00:37:36,480 --> 00:37:40,040 Speaker 1: those wheels turn, and that would mean that the electric 607 00:37:40,080 --> 00:37:44,239 Speaker 1: motor would cause the can to rotate, and the opener's 608 00:37:44,239 --> 00:37:47,160 Speaker 1: blade would be pressed against the lid of the can 609 00:37:47,200 --> 00:37:51,520 Speaker 1: and thus cut through the lid like Butta. Unfortunately for Bunker, 610 00:37:52,320 --> 00:37:54,080 Speaker 1: he was a bit too far ahead of his time. 611 00:37:54,480 --> 00:37:56,520 Speaker 1: The United States and the world in general was still 612 00:37:56,520 --> 00:37:59,720 Speaker 1: in the process of electrification, and a lot of households 613 00:37:59,760 --> 00:38:03,399 Speaker 1: had no been wired for electricity, and the ones that 614 00:38:03,440 --> 00:38:07,600 Speaker 1: were didn't really have can opener on the priority list 615 00:38:07,760 --> 00:38:11,520 Speaker 1: of the stuff what they wanted to have electrified. So 616 00:38:11,640 --> 00:38:14,160 Speaker 1: the electric can opener dates all the way back to 617 00:38:14,239 --> 00:38:16,440 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty one, but it would be another couple of 618 00:38:16,520 --> 00:38:21,319 Speaker 1: decades before the technology would be considered practical for the 619 00:38:21,440 --> 00:38:24,880 Speaker 1: average person and become a consumer item. In fact, the 620 00:38:24,920 --> 00:38:29,960 Speaker 1: first commercially successful electric can opener design would launch in 621 00:38:29,960 --> 00:38:33,000 Speaker 1: the nineteen fifties, and it was a father daughter project. 622 00:38:34,760 --> 00:38:36,520 Speaker 1: The father in this case was a guy named Walter 623 00:38:36,719 --> 00:38:41,600 Speaker 1: Hess Bodele, and his daughter Elizabeth Bodle, contributed significantly to 624 00:38:41,640 --> 00:38:46,080 Speaker 1: the actual design and esthetic of the device, and together 625 00:38:46,520 --> 00:38:50,000 Speaker 1: they made a countertop electric can opener that was freestanding, 626 00:38:50,560 --> 00:38:52,879 Speaker 1: It was attractive in that nineteen fifties kind of way, 627 00:38:53,120 --> 00:38:58,240 Speaker 1: and it actually was a commercial success. Now this pretty 628 00:38:58,320 --> 00:39:00,760 Speaker 1: much brings us up to speed on the general evolution 629 00:39:00,840 --> 00:39:03,759 Speaker 1: of can openers. There are some bits that didn't really cover, 630 00:39:04,120 --> 00:39:07,960 Speaker 1: Like there's the industrial bondser line of can openers. They 631 00:39:08,040 --> 00:39:11,000 Speaker 1: kind of look like a combination of a vice and 632 00:39:11,200 --> 00:39:14,640 Speaker 1: a with a crank on top. These were made for 633 00:39:14,680 --> 00:39:17,680 Speaker 1: commercial operations like restaurants and such, so you would mount 634 00:39:17,719 --> 00:39:22,560 Speaker 1: it on like an industrial table in like a you know, 635 00:39:22,600 --> 00:39:26,160 Speaker 1: a restaurant setting, and you would place you know, your 636 00:39:26,239 --> 00:39:30,360 Speaker 1: large canned goods, like the big cans of can food 637 00:39:30,920 --> 00:39:33,920 Speaker 1: onto essentially a rotating platform that would sit at the 638 00:39:33,960 --> 00:39:37,720 Speaker 1: base of this device. You would clamp the blade down 639 00:39:38,239 --> 00:39:41,640 Speaker 1: and by turning the crank, you would rotate the can 640 00:39:41,680 --> 00:39:45,120 Speaker 1: and cut open the lid. These were really useful, again 641 00:39:45,200 --> 00:39:48,799 Speaker 1: in industrial settings, not so much for consumers, but they 642 00:39:48,800 --> 00:39:52,240 Speaker 1: were really important. I also didn't cover a can opener 643 00:39:52,280 --> 00:39:55,160 Speaker 1: that I really like, a style of can opener I 644 00:39:55,200 --> 00:39:57,440 Speaker 1: really like. As I mentioned, I'm left handed, and that 645 00:39:57,560 --> 00:40:00,360 Speaker 1: means that I would often struggle with, you know, the 646 00:40:00,800 --> 00:40:05,280 Speaker 1: manual can openers. Even left handed designed can openers always 647 00:40:05,280 --> 00:40:09,040 Speaker 1: felt weird to me, maybe because I had forced myself to, 648 00:40:09,800 --> 00:40:13,520 Speaker 1: you know, struggle with a right handed can opener, and 649 00:40:13,560 --> 00:40:15,360 Speaker 1: I mean it always looked like a horror show, like 650 00:40:15,440 --> 00:40:17,680 Speaker 1: I did not do a good job at opening cans. 651 00:40:17,680 --> 00:40:20,200 Speaker 1: When when my family finally got an electric can opener, 652 00:40:20,640 --> 00:40:22,719 Speaker 1: when I was maybe like ten or so, I thought 653 00:40:22,719 --> 00:40:25,520 Speaker 1: it was fantastic because suddenly I could open cans just 654 00:40:25,520 --> 00:40:29,759 Speaker 1: like anyone else. But flash forward a few years back, 655 00:40:29,920 --> 00:40:33,279 Speaker 1: I am shopping for an electric can opener and I 656 00:40:33,360 --> 00:40:35,920 Speaker 1: found a hands free one and I actually really love it. 657 00:40:36,800 --> 00:40:38,880 Speaker 1: And there are lots of different variations for this style 658 00:40:38,960 --> 00:40:40,680 Speaker 1: of can opener, so I'm not going to call out 659 00:40:40,800 --> 00:40:44,520 Speaker 1: the specific brand I have. There are lots of different 660 00:40:44,520 --> 00:40:48,040 Speaker 1: ones that use the same principles, so you can find them, 661 00:40:48,600 --> 00:40:51,480 Speaker 1: you know, in places like online stores and stuff. I'll 662 00:40:51,520 --> 00:40:54,160 Speaker 1: just describe how it works. So it looks like it's 663 00:40:54,239 --> 00:40:57,799 Speaker 1: just a little like handle, actually a thick handle because 664 00:40:57,960 --> 00:41:00,480 Speaker 1: it is battery powered, so the batteries fit in this 665 00:41:01,160 --> 00:41:04,399 Speaker 1: and you lay it across the top of a can, 666 00:41:04,800 --> 00:41:07,920 Speaker 1: like flat out across the top of the can. It 667 00:41:07,920 --> 00:41:12,080 Speaker 1: has a little section that goes over the edge of 668 00:41:12,120 --> 00:41:14,839 Speaker 1: the lip, and when you press a button on the 669 00:41:14,880 --> 00:41:18,760 Speaker 1: top of this can opener, it has wheels that grip 670 00:41:19,480 --> 00:41:22,960 Speaker 1: that lip edge and a blade that cuts into the can, 671 00:41:23,520 --> 00:41:26,800 Speaker 1: and then the motor turns the wheels and the whole 672 00:41:26,880 --> 00:41:29,839 Speaker 1: can opener just rotates over the top of the can. 673 00:41:30,200 --> 00:41:32,680 Speaker 1: It makes a full circle. Once it does, you hit 674 00:41:32,719 --> 00:41:35,520 Speaker 1: the button again, you can lift the top off. Mine 675 00:41:35,640 --> 00:41:39,720 Speaker 1: cuts the lid on the outside edge, so the whole 676 00:41:39,800 --> 00:41:43,200 Speaker 1: like lip of the can comes off at the top 677 00:41:43,680 --> 00:41:47,960 Speaker 1: and makes it really simple to remove and then access 678 00:41:48,000 --> 00:41:50,919 Speaker 1: the food that's inside, and so just with a touch 679 00:41:50,920 --> 00:41:53,360 Speaker 1: of a button, I can get into masspaghettios, which is 680 00:41:53,400 --> 00:41:55,759 Speaker 1: absolutely brilliant in my mind. Like I said, there's lots 681 00:41:55,800 --> 00:41:59,840 Speaker 1: of different variations on this specific design. But the interesting 682 00:41:59,880 --> 00:42:03,040 Speaker 1: thing to me is that the elements that were in 683 00:42:03,200 --> 00:42:07,880 Speaker 1: president in like William Lyman's can opener in eighteen seventy, 684 00:42:07,920 --> 00:42:14,839 Speaker 1: that wheeled blade, or the one of from nineteen thirty 685 00:42:14,880 --> 00:42:19,800 Speaker 1: one where you get the geared wheels in Bunker's design, 686 00:42:20,280 --> 00:42:24,520 Speaker 1: those are all part of these hands free can openers too. 687 00:42:24,520 --> 00:42:28,239 Speaker 1: They're still making use of those those innovations that are now, 688 00:42:28,800 --> 00:42:32,239 Speaker 1: you know, in one case well over a century old, 689 00:42:32,239 --> 00:42:34,200 Speaker 1: and then the other one we're getting pretty close to it. 690 00:42:34,560 --> 00:42:37,400 Speaker 1: I just think that's really cool that it's just again 691 00:42:38,600 --> 00:42:42,719 Speaker 1: slight variations on tried and true designs. But that's the 692 00:42:42,760 --> 00:42:45,800 Speaker 1: story I found. Napoleon Bonaparte led to the creation of 693 00:42:45,840 --> 00:42:49,200 Speaker 1: the can opener sort of, which is kind of similar 694 00:42:49,239 --> 00:42:51,799 Speaker 1: to when I say that the reason we have lawnmowers 695 00:42:51,880 --> 00:42:55,080 Speaker 1: is because folks in Europe really liked building castles and 696 00:42:55,120 --> 00:42:57,560 Speaker 1: going to war with each other. I mean, who knows, 697 00:42:57,719 --> 00:42:59,720 Speaker 1: maybe I'm going to find out that some other random 698 00:42:59,760 --> 00:43:03,120 Speaker 1: and like I don't know, the adjustable office chair actually 699 00:43:03,120 --> 00:43:07,040 Speaker 1: owes its existence to medieval warfare or something. We'll have 700 00:43:07,080 --> 00:43:10,040 Speaker 1: to find out about that one. Anyway, I hope you 701 00:43:10,200 --> 00:43:14,000 Speaker 1: found this history of the can opener interesting and understand 702 00:43:14,120 --> 00:43:17,080 Speaker 1: now why it took almost fifty years from the invention 703 00:43:17,160 --> 00:43:19,520 Speaker 1: of the ten can to get to the invention of 704 00:43:19,560 --> 00:43:22,600 Speaker 1: the ten can opener, and maybe you have a greater 705 00:43:22,680 --> 00:43:27,600 Speaker 1: appreciation for can openers. I know in my household, I 706 00:43:27,680 --> 00:43:30,799 Speaker 1: really appreciated the electric can opener because again, it gave 707 00:43:30,840 --> 00:43:34,480 Speaker 1: me the ability to access canned foods in a way 708 00:43:34,520 --> 00:43:38,640 Speaker 1: that was much easier than the manual can opener method, 709 00:43:38,680 --> 00:43:41,839 Speaker 1: which I always struggled with. And I also know there 710 00:43:41,840 --> 00:43:45,759 Speaker 1: were other entities in my house that appreciated the can 711 00:43:45,840 --> 00:43:48,400 Speaker 1: opener the way I did, and that would be my cats, 712 00:43:48,880 --> 00:43:51,880 Speaker 1: because as soon as they heard the electric can opener going, 713 00:43:52,280 --> 00:43:55,719 Speaker 1: they would flock to me, so they had I think 714 00:43:55,760 --> 00:44:00,320 Speaker 1: the appropriate reverence for can openers something that we should 715 00:44:00,320 --> 00:44:05,520 Speaker 1: all reflect on upon occasion, because tend food often gets 716 00:44:05,520 --> 00:44:09,840 Speaker 1: a bad rap. But seriously, modern society wouldn't exist the 717 00:44:09,840 --> 00:44:15,400 Speaker 1: way it does without it, and arguably without the can opener, 718 00:44:15,680 --> 00:44:20,399 Speaker 1: that never would have been as important an invention. So yeah, 719 00:44:20,560 --> 00:44:23,080 Speaker 1: I just thought it was an interesting topic to cover 720 00:44:23,239 --> 00:44:26,040 Speaker 1: for an episode of tech Stuff. I hope you are 721 00:44:26,080 --> 00:44:29,919 Speaker 1: all well, and I'll talk to you again really soon. 722 00:44:36,120 --> 00:44:40,760 Speaker 1: Tech Stuff is an iHeartRadio production. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, 723 00:44:41,080 --> 00:44:44,800 Speaker 1: visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen 724 00:44:44,840 --> 00:44:49,640 Speaker 1: to your favorite shows.