Pouring Ideas Into Tin Cans: Continental Can Company Rises Through Applying New Methods to a Standardized Industry

I

IF one were searching for examples of the old and new to illustrate the swift changes of our common life through the past century, he need not look beyond the oldest business in the world — retail merchandising, and particularly the grocery store, around which revolves community life at its simplest. Fifty years ago the food and general supply store kept its staple goods in wooden barrels, with an overdow stock in a dingy back room. Barrels of molasses, vinegar, sugar, flour, pickles, kerosene, crackers, and vegetables stood about on the floor. Over these would bend a clerk probably wearing a soiled apron, with a ladle or scoop in his hand, presently to return with his order in a paper bag or wooden dish over which he placed a piece of wrapping paper. Almost the only packaged goods on the shelves were flavoring extracts, cans of salmon, meat, and condensed milk, together with a few articles in wooden or paper boxes.

Enter a similar store to-day. No barrels in sight. Even that familiar human type, the cracker-barrel philosopher, has gone. More than half the store’s merchandise is on shelf display, packaged to be handed out in the twinkling of an eye. The contents have been protected by a container against most of the insanitary accidents of transportation and handling and against adulteration or substitution by unscrupulous dealers. The container is the key to modern merchandising and the basis of its guarantees. Each year sees more packaged goods consumed and more sorts of goods vended in containers and steady progress made toward improvement of both the package and its contents, a trend certain to continue because the public finds in it increasing satisfaction, confidence, and convenience. Try to think of any article which, once packaged, has been returned to bulk handling. In thousands of instances the public has voted with its nickels and dimes for container merchandising.

If an observer could step from the 1880’s to the present, he would be struck by the presence in amazing variety and quantity of an object now so common that it is taken for granted — the tin can. The few packaged products found in the old-time stores were for the most part in bottles, cartons, and boxes. Now the tin can dominates the food trade, appears decisively in many other lines, including paints, varnishes, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, polishes, and so forth, and is being adapted to use on more and more products of common sale. Our old-timer, transplanted from one era to another, would fall to wondering how such quantities of tin cans were made, and especially how they could be manufactured with such unvarying success that perfect protection of their contents could be guaranteed.

The spick-and-span store of the present is possible only because in spick-and-span factories, spaced wddely over the country, tin cans are being turned out with almost lightning rapidity from tin plate, which consists of a thin sheet of steel coated with pure tin. The cleanest metal-working operation known to an industrial age must surely be that of a can factory. Let us visit one of Continental’s modern can plants. A door is opened and the visitor steps through into a sunny room, the air of which seems full of blinding beauty and deafening clatter. Thousands of brightly shining, eloquently tinkling tin cans chase each other through automatic machines and along overhead conveyor systems. Each contributes its small voice to the rattling clamor; each adds its glinting surface to a kaleidoscopic motion picture. The frame of the pattern holds steady, the lines march unbroken alow and aloft, but each scintillating little soldier dances and sings as it moves, step by tiny step, through this amazing factory.

It is a scene to delight a modernist painter, alert for new combinations of light and shade in flashing motion. Not soon to be forgotten is the orderly beauty of simple, everyday objects, multitudinously on the march and singing as they travel automatically toward their utilitarian destiny. No hand touches them after they pass from slitting machine to storehouse; in fact, no hand has touched the inside of one of them since the tin plate sheets, two tonsito a bundle, left the mills.

Comparatively few persons supervise the automatized operation of this plant. This must be ‘the can maker’s paradise.’ On each of fifteen lines 325 cans may be made every minute of the working day, with 7,000,000 a day a mathematical possibility under continuous operation. Some of Continental’s thirty-two can-making plants are larger than this one in volume, some smaller, but all reveal a high efficiency combined with speed. Celerity is the word which from first to last characterizes can making.

In a specialized plant like this one a high degree of automatization is attained. The cans are cut, shaped, soldered, sealed on one end, and tested under pressure by machinery more sensitive to flaws than human eye or hand. The last of the hand processes to yield to machinery was soldering. An expert task in craftsmanship was this one of soldering the outside of the seam of an open cylinder as it swung in front of the operator; occasionally one sees this skilled hand operation in a ‘general-line’ plant, when a wide variety of orders, some of which are too small in quantity to justify the high initial cost of extreme automatization, has to be filled. Whereas a specialized plant may make only one or two shapes, the general-line plant often has a hundred shapes and sizes in process at once, ranging from 110-pound coffee drums and 50-pound lard cans to tiny sample containers.

II

Greatest volume is reached in manufacturing cans for packers of foodstuffs, greatest variety in general-line cans for other goods. Continental’s thirty-two can plants may be classified as follows: twelve packers’ can plants; fifteen general-line plants; and five combination plants.

The can opener in the kitchen is still the foundat ion of the business in spite of growth in other lines. Packers’ cans are made in or near railroad centres from which transportation lines radiate to important food-growing areas. Both for canners and for can makers, even slight freight-rate advantages are important; as a result, the industrial map of canning operations and can making is dictated largely by the geography and timing of plant growth. Food packing and can making tend toward locations near the growing or producing areas suitable for quantity packs. The largest of these packs consists of evaporated and condensed milk; pineapples, pears, peaches, apricots, cherries, and grapefruit among the fruits; corn, peas, tomatoes, and beans in the vegetable world; soups in all varieties; and salmon, the most popular product of our fisheries. The average reader may be surprised to learn that although Maine, the original corn-canning state, still holds a proud place, the large-volume packs come from Iowa, Indiana, Ohio, Maryland, Minnesota, and Illinois; that California’s peaches, better eating after canning than before, are used almost exclusively for commercial canning — very limited quantities of the celebrated Michigan and Georgia peaches being available in the packagegoods market; that the largest quantities of tomatoes come from widely separated areas — California, Missouri, Arkansas, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, and the Atlantic seaboard area of southern New Jersey and the Delaware peninsula, composed of Delaware and the eastern portions of Maryland and Virginia. Wisconsin and New York are the largest producers of peas for canning.

This picture changes with weather and climate variations, discovery of new insecticides, development of fertilizers, opening of new lands to packable crops, improvement of seeds, and acceptance by growers of changes from traditional to scientific methods of agriculture. In the canning industry the plants are usually located in the small villages or towns close to a favored crop area. The can maker tends to follow the packer, spacing factories widely instead of concentrating operations. Both are answering the call of the land and the dictation of seasonal swings beyond the control of man.

Neither the canner nor the can maker, however, accepts Nature fully or blindly. The former stirs his contract farmers to improve yields in quantity and quality. His agricultural experts advise farmers and market gardeners on crop rotation, tillage, drainage, spraying, and seed selection. Many canners grow and distribute seed to growers, conduct long-range experiments in plant variations, inspect fields of ripening crops, and fix the day and hour when the crop should be gathered to ensure first quality. The old belief that only cull crops go into cans has become a myth; the fact is that the yields of the best acres go with the least possible delay to the plant and into tin cans. It could hardly be otherwise, with processors guaranteeing their products and profits depending on high-speed, continuous runs through short periods, conditions that make the best product infallibly the cheapest.

Another element reenforcing geographical spread is the stark need for prompt, almost instant, service. The food packer cannot wait; it is now or never with him. If his delivered crop exceeds his estimates, he must get containers by rush order. His commercial life hangs on the outcome of his shout for cans. In the case of general-line plants the need for supplies on the instant is not so acute. Nevertheless, canners want containers when they want them — pronto and no fooling! As a result, Continental Can Company, Inc., has packers’ can plants in ten states, general-line plants in ten states, and combination plants in four states.

III

Organized with the modest capital of $500,000 in the fall of 1904, Continental acquired the patents and goodwill of United Machinery Company of Rochester, New York, which had developed a line of improved can-making machinery. With these machines it equipped plants at Syracuse and Chicago, natural centres for can manufacturing because at these points radiating railways tap rich agricultural sections. Shortly thereafter the Company established its third plant at Baltimore. In 1909, seeking assured supply of raw materials, the Company bought the Standard Tinplate Company at Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. In these five years occurred a technical change of great importance, the shift from the soldered end to the sanitary or doubleseamed end now in general use. Under the leadership of its founder and first president, T. G. Cranwell, Continental quickly re-equipped its plants to meet the new situation. Later growth to present proportions has been partly through internal expansion and partly through merger.

Thus far Continental operations had been confined to packers’ cans, a highly seasonal business with acute demand from April to October, followed by a comparatively slack season of almost six months. General-line business, on the other hand, is steadier; and corporate stability could hardly be gained without it. So Continental entered the general-line field in 1912 at Chicago.

In 1917, with canned goods in demand by the army, there arose the plant at Clearing, Illinois, near Chicago, now the Company’s largest operation. Another development of that year was doubling the factory facilities at Syracuse, New York, for the manufacture of can-making and can-closing machinery, the latter designed for installation in packing plants for closing the cans after filling. This meant that Continental could offer its customers machines progressively adapted to every improvement in can design and built to meet particular needs. It became possible to increase the guarantee ratio, now surprisingly high. Continental guarantees 998 out of every 1000 packers’ cans it delivers to fruit and vegetable canners.

The war induced a marked change in the food habits of the people, the net effect of which benefited the canning industry. After hostilities ceased, the letdown in this industry was less marked than in some others. The public had become educated to the use and convenience of canned foods, with the result that, with the return of peace, these foods continued in popular favor.

The activities of the twenties reflect particularly the energy and foresight of Carle C. Conway, a Vice President since 1913, who became First Vice President in 1923 and President in December 1926. A piano manufacturer by prior experience, Mr. Conway had long been interested in Continental as a large stockholder. When he became the Continental leader, his vision and driving force soon made themselves felt in vigorous growth. Details of can making and can selling were left to two veterans who had long been in the Company’s service, Messrs. F. A. Prahl and S. J. Steele, Vice Presidents in charge respectively of manufacturing and sales, while Mr. Conway concentrated on enlarging both his company and the markets served by it.

Other officials added to the organization in this period included J. B. Jeffress, Jr., in 1923, as Secretary and Treasurer; J. F. Hartlieb, in 1927 (now Vice President in charge of budgets, credits, and Chairman of the Finance Committee); and I. W. England, in 1928, as a Vice President (now in charge of advertising). Long tenures in office are the rule with this company.

A new general-line plant was built in Jersey City in 1920. In 1926, operations began on the Pacific Coast, which have now reached large proportions. The first Coast plant, acquired at Los Angeles, was expanded two years later. Early in 1927 the Company began can manufacturing at Seattle, where, in addition to the usual output, a special process is used to meet the needs of the Alaska salmon packers. Flattened can cylinders, open at each end, are made at Seattle, shipped to Alaska, and there re-formed into cylinders, bottomed, filled, and sealed — an interesting adaptation of means to an end called forth by transportation costs limiting bulk cargoes in Alaskan trade.

The big year in Continental growth — 1928 — saw expansion in many directions, the most important being the absorption of the United States Can Company, a move which introduced into the Continental organization Mr. O. C. Huffman, President of the Company since 1930 in succession to Mr. Conway, who then became Chairman of the Board. Mr. Huffman had manufactured cans since 1903, when he organized the Virginia Can Company at Buchanan, Virginia, selling most of the stock to farmers. The youthful founder received $100 a month salary and had to fight with his farmer stockholders for that. Virginia’s original stock ultimately became a valuable investment for those who clung to it over a long period of years.

Volume of business grew, and Virginia Can later became the United States Can Company, operating plants at Cincinnati, Baltimore, East St. Louis, Roanoke, and Chicago. By 1928 the latter company reached the position of third largest can producer in the United States. In the rapidly growing Southern trade Mr. Huffman’s company occupied an especially strong position, which Continental has held and strengthened since the merger by locating plants strategically with relation to sectional demand. Mr. Huffman brought to Continental not only practical manufacturing experience but also a broad comprehension of the part which the manufacturer should play in promoting the welfare of customers through intelligent servicing methods.

About fifteen additional can-making plants were added in 1928 and 1929 to the Continental ensemble, and the Company took over two machinery firms: Seattle-Astoria Iron Works at Seattle, makers of automatic machinery; and McDonald Machine Company of Chicago, makers of metal-cutting presses and of the all-important can testers, which perform a most delicate operation in the automatic process.

IV

Continental pursues and encourages scientific research with unremitting activity both inside and outside its own organization.

It has for many years contributed substantially to the National Canners Association, which organization has, among other things, rendered a constructive service in research and improvement of the products of the canned-foods industry. The Association is also the sponsor of the comprehensive work on vitamins in canned foods conducted since 1924 by Columbia University scientists under the direction of Dr. W. H. Eddy, which has resulted in valuable contributions to the knowledge in this field.

Continental maintains research fellowships at the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research, Pittsburgh, devoted to research on foods.

At Chicago, a laboratory with a large staff of chemists and technicians skilled in the canning art is maintained. Not only is research conducted in connection with the solution of Company problems pertaining to special enamels, lacquers, coatings, and so forth, for cans, but in addition studies are constantly carried on to improve methods of canning all food products. These technicians, as well as those stationed on the Pacific Coast and at New Orleans, Baltimore, and Syracuse, make frequent field trips rendering ‘ on the spot’ assistance to canners in the solution of their problems as the need arises.

Broadly, this organization offers expert counsel not only on better canning methods for packs of well-known products, but in the development of canning technique for preserving the newer or specialty items which are being added continually to the long list of fine food products available the year round in cans. A completely equipped bacteriological section is also at the service of Continental customers at all times.

In addition, the Company operates control and metallurgical laboratories at Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, and laboratories for chemical and mechanical research and development at Syracuse, New York.

V

In contrast to the highly standardized production in packers’ cans, general-line can making develops many variations. The desirable container in this field is one which will help sell the merchandise it holds, and its success depends not only on economy and safety, but also on ease of use, better display value, and all-round attractiveness. A chief consideration is to develop cans which catch and please the eye, while meeting adequately the practical needs established by the nature of the product to be sold.

The Development Department of Continental studies customer container problems from two angles. Does the present container provide ideal protection? Does it help to sell the merchandise? Failure in either respect means that Continental suffers with its customer, while success benefits all parties. Merely changing the shape of a container from flat to upright may double sales, because the new article is no longer hidden on the merchant’s shelves. Adding an easy pouring spout to a tooth-powder container may help a manufacturer over his marketing barriers. In some instances the Development Department conducts surveys of retail conditions as they affect a certain product, takes the results to a manufacturer, and with his staff works out a new approach to the market.

Recently Continental’s experts, in cooperation with the Dairy Division of the Department of Agriculture, undertook experiments looking toward a new method of marketing Cheddar cheese, as one way of relieving overproduction of milk. Cheddar has suffered in trade because the usual large, round units develop waste and deteriorate through rapid drying and rind formation. The quality which gives Cheddar its snappy taste, a certain gassiness, rendered ordinary containers useless. By the invention of a valve-vented can, an entirely new departure in can making, the problem has been solved. In the top of the can is a vent, so arranged that it releases gas at a low pressure without admitting air. This unique package of cheese will soon be on the market, the six months’ aging process being now under way. A new delicacy becomes available in a package which ensures dependable freshness without waste and makes possible a complete guarantee of quality and trade identification. Other gas-forming products may eventually be marketed in this unique valved container.

Following the trend toward greater demand for tooth-powder containers, Continental designed a new can with an improved dispenser, making it an outstanding package in this field. The trial order for the above package, less than nine months ago, was for only 50,000 containers, since when 3,000,000 have been sold. Many similar requests flow into the Development Department from buyers, with the result that this division must be alert to the trends in modem packaging. In the ever-changing picture of general-line can manufacture, a novel departure which catches on means substantial and steady gains.

One of Continental’s new ideas, so new that it is not yet in assured production, is the window-top can, long a will-o’-the-wisp arousing keen pursuit but only lately brought into the realm of practical attainment. In the glasstop can Continental unites the protective qualities of the tin can with the visibility afforded by the glass top, producing a container which, while judged too expensive for universal use, is effective as an inspection sample. Through this method of display, sales of canned foods in certain test campaigns have been stimulated 300 to 400 per cent.

VI

An innovation which rose to impressive volume within two years is canned motor oil. Progressive refiners realized that there was a vast market of buyers unable to distinguish between various grades or brands of oil. Taught by experience and advertising to ask for their favorite oils, they could not be sure of getting what they wanted. The fruits of extra care in refining, painstaking oil research, and strenuous advertising remained in jeopardy unless lubricants went to the customer in sealed and tamper-proof containers, the contents being drained into the crankcase under the eye of the purchaser.

In this conclusion not all refiners agreed, but it did not take long to convert most of the skeptics. The first canned oil came to the market early in 1933, yet within two years over 200 oil companies were packaging a sizable proportion of their motor lubricants. More than 65 per cent of oil dealer stations now handle canned oil. In 1934, the second year, authoritative estimates indicate that approximately 350,000,000 quarts of motor oil were sold in cans, about one fifth of total production.

In cans the motorist gets the oil he wants and pays for — in grade, measure, and brand. Dealers find these advantages : fewer complaints, cleaner and easier handling, and a reduced investment in stock as between a 55-gallon drum and a case of 24 quart tins, or a wider stock of popular brands on the same capital. Lithographed cans, bright with color, offer the first chance to display oil attractively. Canned oil has sharpened competition by enabling the refiner to place his goods in thousands of new outlets, but at the same time has lifted the motor-oil trade to a higher plane.

A primary reason why canned oil caught on so quickly is this: Continental took its advantages directly to the public through national advertising. Converted to the new idea, motorists came forward to demand canned oil, and the innovation became an assured success almost overnight.

VII

National advertising by the can maker to the ultimate consumer was itself a novelty. Hitherto, can makers had relied almost entirely on trade papers, concentrating on potential can buyers and overlooking ultimate consumers, leaving the latter to be cultivated by the National Canners Association (composed of food canners) and individual packers. Continental joined forces fully with the canners in these joint efforts to educate housewives to the advantages and merits of the more than three hundred kinds of foods and delicacies available at all seasons in tin cans and to break down the old and unfounded prejudices against their use. While continuing its cooperation with the Association, Continental undertook to carry this work of educat ion further on its own account. Advertising texts and illustrations emphasized the point that health and freshness are sealed in cans which preserve indefinitely the food values of fruits and vegetables canned within a few hours after leaving the field. During summer months Continental called public attention to the fact that, while Nature was at its best, products of farms, gardens, and orchards otherwise unavailable were being canned for winter use.

Acquainting the public with Continental as a service organization, helpfully joining its own interests with those of the many great industries which it serves, is another objective of Continental advertising. As business develops in size and complexity, producers of hitherto unregarded elements in an assembled product are more and more seeking a direct approach to a public mind appreciative of value, cleanliness, and design, and increasingly interested in the practical aspects of industrial cooperation. All these objectives have been realized; canned oil has already become a standard product, housewives reacted favorably to the messages on the uses and merits of canned foods, and the public understands better than it did the part which the tin container plays in the nation’s mercantile and industrial processes.

In its consumer advertising, as in other departures from standard practice, the controlling thought is benefit to Continental’s customers, as Continental’s progress goes hand in hand with that of its patrons. Alive to the wisdom of change, and alert in research and developing new products, in machine improvements, in anticipating customer requirements, and in advertising, Continental drives ahead with vigor in its efforts to stimulate the broad array of American industries which use its products in ever-growing quantities.

Unless all signs fail, the ultramodern store of to-day will seem hopelessly antiquated fifty years hence, as out-of-date as an old-fashioned country general store is to-day. But one thing is certain: the store of the future will hold containers in even greater variety than at present, and the tin can will without doubt still be an important factor in the commercial and domestic life of America.

Copyright 1935, by The Atlantic Monthly Company, Bouton, Mass. All rights reserved.