WASHINGTON — The march of Western civilization has partly hinged on the little object behind those boxes of pricey whole-grain rotini pasta on the third shelf of your cupboard. The object is cylindrical and silver and wrapped in a paper label. It is dusty. Its expiration date has passed, but the contents are probably still good.
Such is the longevity and the simplicity of the can, which turns 200 on Wednesday.
In 1810, a Frenchman named Nicolas Appert discovered a way to preserve soups, produce and dairy products in glass bottles using boiling water to force out air and sealing the contents with cork, wire and wax.
Other inventors soon adapted the process to tin cans, which are lighter, cheaper and more durable.
Today, 130 billion cans are produced every year in the United States.
Robert Budway is president of the Can Manufacturers Institute. On his bookshelf is a squat can of Fray Bentos Chicken and Mushroom Pie that he bought in Europe because he liked the look of it. It expired in December 2006. He thinks it might still be good.
“I think it’s deep,” Budway says of the allure of the can. “It’s an appreciation of where the technology has come from and from what a can meant to people generations ago who drank from that container.
“It’s about heritage.”
