The Can Grocery stores in the 1890's carried a wide rang of products in cans. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress. Baltimore became the an important center for processing foods around the turn of the 20th century. One of the reasons canning became popular then was because the process of making cans improved greatly around that time. Before the turn of the 20th century, making cans was slow and, therefore, expensive. Between 1880-1890, new machines were invented that could make cans quickly and cheaply. After that, the canning industry in Baltimore, and around the country, took off. Today, we take cans for granted. We use tin cans and aluminum cans every day. Hungry? Open a can of spaghettios! But, what if there were no cans? No spaghettios, or cans of soda, or canned vegetables, or canned meats. Life would be much harder without these conveniences. Cans are important because they preserve food so that it can be stored for a long time without going bad. Canned goods, like fruits and vegetables and seafood, don't even need to be kept cold. They can be stored on a shelf at room temperature. At the cannery, fresh food is prepared and cooked, than put into clean cans. Then all the air is taken out and the can is sealed. Once prepared in this way, the food will last a long time. The technologies of canning and can making are linked. Go to Item #2, The Tin Can Timeline, on your Canneries Worksheet. You will find nine important milestones in the history of making cans. Cut out boxes showing the events and arrange them in chronological order. You will then have a Tin Can Timeline. You will see how the technology of can making made the commercial canning process possible.

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