What is a Can Opener?
A can opener is a device that opens cans. There are several different types of can openers that open different sizes of metal food cans. Basically, a can opener works by first puncturing the metal and then cutting around the circular top of the can to remove the lid. Oddly, the can opener was invented about fifty years after metal cans were invented. Before that, people used tools such as hammers, chisels and knives to open the thick tin cans.
When cans were made thinner, inventions for opening the cans became possible. The first can opener was patented by Connecticut's Ezra Warner in 1858. His design is known as a bayonet and sickle type. The bayonet part punctures the metal can and the sickle mechanism removes the lid to open it. Warner's device still left rough edges and his can opener wasn't used in households, but rather by grocers and the American military.
William Lyman invented an easy to operate can opener with a wheel-shaped cutter in 1870. The Star Can Company of San Francisco added a serrated edge to Lyman's design in 1925. Handheld or manual can openers are still used today, especially on camping trips. Although many modern households use electric can openers, it's a good idea to have a manual can opener handy in the home in case of a power outage when electric can openers can't be operated.
The first electric can opener was invented in 1931. It took the idea of the cutting wheel and made it electric. The electric can opener design kept evolving to eliminate problems such as using a magnet to prevent the lid from falling into the can. Electric can openers were once wall-mounted, but today under-cabinet and freestanding versions are popular.
The freestanding type of can opener was first invented by Walter Hess Bodle in the early 1950s. Bodle's invention was manufactured by the Union Die Casting Company in the 1950s and 1960s. These freestanding electric can openers were available in popular colors of the time including avocado, turquoise and bright pink. Can openers that don’t leave any sharp edges on the lid are now available as are types that open extra large cans.
Written by Sheri Cyprus
