The Mighty Can Opener! by Patti Sherry-Crews

A brief history of the can opener might not be the sexiest topic for a blog post, but stopping what I'm doing to ask myself questions such as "how did people in the old west get their food out of the can?", and then having to find the answer is part of the writing process.

When I sit down to craft a story I probably spend as much time researching as I do writing--if not more. Especially if I'm working on an historical novel. I start a line of dialog and then wonder if a certain word or phrase was in use at the time, so I have to open a new tab on my laptop to look up the etymology of said word or phrase.

Ditto, dropping in historically accurate details requires research. The minutiae of my characters' lives is what brings depth and texture to the story. They don't just sit down to eat, they have to eat something and it better be something available during that time period. For instance, a medieval knight in England would not sit down to a plate of roast potatoes because potatoes were one of the foods brought from the New World centuries after Sir Hubert sat down to eat his dinner in the 12th century.

So, I spend a good amount of time looking up details about clothing, food, medicine, etc.

When I wrote my first historical western, Margarita and the Hired Gun, the two main characters spend most of the book out on the trail--for weeks on horseback. They had to eat, and though they did live off the land to some extent, they mainly had to rely on food they carried with them. This presented a problem for me because how would they keep food from spoiling on their long journey?
In researching this question, I was surprised to find how early canned food became available. It would have been one of the foodstuffs Michael and Margarita carried with them in their saddlebags.

In my current work in progress, I've once again put my characters out on the trail. In one chapter they sit down together to share a can of beans....but, wait....how do they open that can of beans? I never thought about that before. Hero and heroine stare mutely at one another across the campfire holding a can of beans aloft and wondering how to open it. Author, help us out here, their eyes seem to say.
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I quickly looked up when the first can opener was made to see what this thing would look like. In 1858, Ezra J. Warner designed the first can opener. Warner's design consisted of a pointed blade with a guard made to puncture the can without going too far into it. Then a second, curved blade would be worked around the top of the can in a sawing motion.

But, pay attention: Peter Durand got a patent from King George III for his canned food process in 1810. Notice that? Canned food was out there 50 years before anyone could figure out how to get the food out of the can!

That's like building a garage around a car before envisioning the need for a door the width of a car. So how did folks open a can of peaches before 1858?

 Briefly, let's look at canned food, the need for which was a by-product of war. Needing to move troops great distances for long periods of time, Napoleon offered a reward to anyone who could solve the problem of feeding an army on the move. In 1809 Nicolas Appert first preserved foods by putting them in hermetically sealed and heat sterilized containers. Unfortunately these early containers were made of glass, which is not the ideal for rough travel.

The first cans (short for "canisters") made by Durand were of wrought iron with a tin lining. In order to open them, the use of a chisel and hammer was recommended. As you can imagine canned food did not immediately take off with the speed of sliced bread. 

Then came the American Civil War and canned foods once again kept moving armies fed. Canned foods like oysters, meats, fruit, vegetables made their way to the general stores at this time. 

But early can openers were not user-friendly. The threat from the sharp blade and the jagged edges left on the open can was off-putting, so store clerks would perform the service of opening cans for their customers.

When I read that canned foods existed for such a long time before anyone came up with a good solution to get at their contents, I thought, "Talk about putting the cart before the horse!" 

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(To put the cart before the horse means to do something out of order, to have the wrong priorities, to prioritize inconsequential things over important things. The figurative use of this phrase in English dates back to the 1500s, but the Roman politician and philosopher Cicero used the term in his essay called On Friendship: “We put the cart before the horse, and shut the stable door when the steed is stolen, in defiance of the old proverb.” Interestingly, Cicero refers to put the cart before the horse as an old proverb, suggesting that the figure of speech was well known before his own time. Related phrases are puts the cart before the horse, putting the cart before the horse as well as the negative admonition don’t put the cart before the horse.--Grammarist)

Now, back to our campfire dinner: The hero holds up a can of beans and scratches his head. The heroine lets out a throaty laugh and pulls a Warner can opener out of thin air. Both turn toward the author and convey gratitude with their eyes.

While you're waiting for me to finish this story, you can read a copy of Margarita and the Hired Gun, which is available as a single or you can find it in the collection, Under a Western Sky, six full length historical western romances at the bargain price of $0.99.

Available on Amazon

Available on Amazon

Authors, have you come across any interesting facts while doing research? How much time do you spend researching vs writing? Do you have an go-to places to search out your facts? Readers, do anachronism stop you dead in your tracks while into a book?