National Tin Can Day

Tin cans may not seem like such an amazing concept, but from the 1800s into early 1900s, it became one of the greatest inventions to ever be conceived. Revolutionizing the preservation of food, tin cans still remain a popular way to preserve fruits, vegetables, and soups.

National Tin Can Day reminds people of this aspect of human history and has become a great relief for those who can’t afford fresh fruits and vegetables and want an easy meal.

History of National Tin Can Day

Cans were invented as a solution for hunger in combat. The French Directory, serving the years when Napolean’s army fought battles in Italy, the Netherlands, Germany, and the Carribean, offered a 12,000 franc prize for a breakthrough in the preservation of food.

Nicholas Appert, a Paris resident and chef saw this opportunity and took it. Working for French nobility, he studied different methods of food preservation until he presented his creation to the Directory.

Champagne bottle preserved with cheese and lime was the idea he created built on previous preservation techniques. His factory progressed from bottles to glass containers and then eventually to cans. These preserves were shipped all over through the French navy.

Peter Durand decided he wanted to capitalize on the preservation of food by patenting it and intended on expanding even further from Appert’s idea by using tinplate.

Once the British saw that the French were using preservation, they believed they needed to as well. Soon after, Bryan Donkin and John Hall set up the first commercial canning factory in Britian in 1812. Tin can preservation became a crucial element for the history of combat and war as well as helping solve hunger issues.

In New York, about a century later, the Max Ams Machine Company of New York patented the double-seam process used in most modern food cans and helped boom the future of industrialized food all the way to the modern day.

National Tin Can Day was founded with the purpose of acknowleging and honoring this creative invention!

How to Celebrate National Tin Can Day

Share the history of the tin can by telling people all about it! Share the history of the tin can on social media and explore how canning food became an influential part of the industrial revolution for first-world countries.

Try your hand at making a meal using only canned foods and get creative with tonight’s dinner! You can also try do it yourself crafts and see what you can create with tin cans! Take all the tin cans you can find and take them to the recycling center.