240
It Can Open Cans
On April 2, 1935 American Can Company, a New Jersey corporation
headquartered in New York, was assigned a new
―
container opener
‖
patent.
Dewitt Sampson of Elmhurst, New York and John Hothersall of Brooklyn, New
York teamed up to develop an opener to pierce a hole in the top of cans.
The end of Prohibition two years earlier had
cleared the way for a whole new rash of ideas
on dispensing beer and other beverages. A
significant development came in January of
1935 when the Krueger Brewing Company of
Newark, New Jersey started market testing
beer canned in American Can Company
‘
s
trademark
―
Keglined
‖
cans. Sampson and
Hothersal presented their can piercer idea in
less than a month after the end of Prohibition
and when models of flat-top beer cans were
completed in early 1934, can openers were
ready.
The patent (#1,996,550) calls for a
―
Container Opener
‖
which
―
at one stroke or
turning movement produces a substantial pouring opener in the wall of the
container through which the contents, be they fluid or granular, may be readily
dispensed.
‖
The patent describes in detail the operation of the tool with drawing
depicting it having this
―
can punch
‖
on one end and a bottle cap lifter on the
other.
The Vaughan Company of Chicago was licensed to manufacture the can opener.
Vaughan incorporated the idea into some of their tools that not only have a tin
top cutter and a bottle cap lifter but can uncork a bottle as well.
