00:00:00 ♪♪

00:00:25 That mankind may have life and have it more abundantly,

00:00:32 this is the everlasting promise of nature.

00:00:37 The good things of the earth have been placed within our reach,

00:00:40 but man has never been relieved of the responsibility of earning them.

00:00:46 He has had to gain wisdom and understanding to adapt this incredible goodness to his needs.

00:00:53 And so, through the years, man has watched and studied the great natural forces that were meant to serve him.

00:01:06 ♪♪

00:01:29 Electricity was once a frightening thing,

00:01:34 but not anymore.

00:01:37 We have learned how to channel its power into telephones, radios, refrigerators, electric lights.

00:01:47 It is one of the prime movers of the age in which we live.

00:01:54 The wind was a wild, untamed thing, comrade of space and the stars,

00:02:02 until man learned how to make it work for him.

00:02:07 ♪♪

00:02:14 Water anywhere is potential power,

00:02:20 but uncontrolled it is also unpredictable.

00:02:25 So man built dams,

00:02:29 and behold, this pent-up power becomes a tremendous agency for good.

00:02:35 ♪♪

00:02:42 Here is desolation.

00:02:45 Good land once, until man let the topsoil wash away.

00:02:50 But topsoil is the very source of life,

00:02:54 and man is learning to conserve it so that nature may give more abundantly of all the growing things of field and hill.

00:03:04 In his endless struggle to avert starvation,

00:03:07 man has been striving for a better understanding of nature's laws.

00:03:13 The gains he has made are witnessed in our bounteous crops.

00:03:18 Even so, and quite as the Bible warns us,

00:03:21 there's a time for sowing and a time for reaping.

00:03:25 But the time for reaping is so very short.

00:03:29 ♪♪

00:03:33 That perhaps is why man has always made so much of harvest,

00:03:37 made it a time of festival or prayer.

00:03:40 For he knows his life depends on swiftly gathering in the bounty nature gives him.

00:03:46 ♪♪

00:03:55 Thus, in America, we have always offered thanks for the blessings of the earth.

00:04:01 ♪♪

00:04:12 Which reminds us how the harvest tidied our forefathers through lean and hungry winters.

00:04:18 ♪♪

00:04:21 By the same token, spring has ever been a time of rejoicing,

00:04:26 of joy in the promise of still another harvest

00:04:30 when field and tree again bring forth a profusion of delicious gifts

00:04:35 that beckon us to come and gather in.

00:04:39 But nature has a way of holding out her bounty,

00:04:43 then snatching it away.

00:04:46 All too quickly it has gone.

00:04:48 True, it serves to re-enrich the soil,

00:04:52 but as for man's immediate needs, a total loss.

00:04:58 Of course, all growing things are contained within a protective covering.

00:05:03 But it occurred to man that if he could provide a permanent protective covering

00:05:09 for the bounty of nature,

00:05:11 he could then readily extend the harvest season

00:05:14 until every day in the year became a day of plenty.

00:05:19 A simple idea, but one of great promise.

00:05:23 Today, its perfection is a man-made miracle.

00:05:28 We refer to it, and rightly so, as the miracle of the can.

00:05:34 But we've been talking about man as if women didn't exist,

00:05:39 which is most unfair.

00:05:42 Let's go back to a hot summer's day around the year 1900

00:05:46 when in households across the land this was happening.

00:05:50 You know, Lucy, if we can get all these tomatoes put up today,

00:05:54 we can start on the corn tomorrow.

00:05:56 Ooh, that'll be good.

00:05:58 Heavens above, Jim, the last thing we need right now is more tomatoes.

00:06:02 We got twice what we can put up now.

00:06:05 I mean it, Jim, take them back outside and don't bring any more.

00:06:08 Now don't take off on me, Martha.

00:06:10 It's not my fault we had so many this year.

00:06:13 The fact is I figured you'd be glad we got such a good crop.

00:06:16 Of course I'm glad, but I haven't got time to put up any more.

00:06:20 All right, all right, what'll I do with these?

00:06:23 Feed them to the pigs.

00:06:31 Feed them to the pigs.

00:06:34 What a waste of good tomatoes.

00:06:37 Yes, waste was the word, and no way to beat it.

00:06:42 But along about that time things were happening that would change all that.

00:06:50 You know, John, I hear they're putting up fruits and vegetables

00:06:53 better than we can now over near Fairport.

00:06:56 Who is they?

00:06:57 The Canneries.

00:06:59 And what with the sugar and all the other seasoning

00:07:01 and the cooking and whatnot, it costs less too.

00:07:04 Well, if that's true, why do you slave over a hot stove

00:07:08 when you can get them right down at the store?

00:07:11 For that matter, why do I waste my time with these trees

00:07:15 and bust my back over the plow?

00:07:18 Hey, Kelly, next season I'll put in smaller crops.

00:07:23 No, bigger crops.

00:07:25 Bigger? Now how in the world do you figure that?

00:07:28 Well, it's our chance to save some money.

00:07:30 Why, we can sell off fruit to the Canneries

00:07:33 and plant more and more things to sell them right through the seasons.

00:07:36 And then if the crops come in good,

00:07:38 we can put by enough money to send the boy to college.

00:07:41 So he can be a better farmer than me and grow more crops?

00:07:45 Sure, to sell to the Canneries.

00:07:49 You know, Mary, that's quite an idea you've got there.

00:07:56 That it was, and it caught on.

00:08:00 Farmers began to plant more and more acres,

00:08:04 improved their yield,

00:08:07 lifted their farm incomes to higher levels,

00:08:10 adding purchasing power that gladdened the hearts of entire families.

00:08:15 And a new agricultural era was in the making,

00:08:18 all through the growing demand for canned foods.

00:08:23 But in those days, progress was limited

00:08:26 by the old-fashioned hole-and-cap can.

00:08:30 Many things, for instance, had to be cut up

00:08:33 and forced through the hole in the top of the can.

00:08:36 Filling cans was therefore a slow process.

00:08:40 After filling, a cap had to be soldered over the hole by hand.

00:08:45 And that required a lot of work,

00:08:48 to say nothing of an equally important element, time.

00:08:52 Result?

00:08:54 They just couldn't turn out canned foods fast enough

00:08:57 to keep up with the growing demand.

00:09:01 ♪

00:09:15 Careful.

00:09:22 What else, Mrs. Moran?

00:09:24 Well, I need some peas. Three cans of peas.

00:09:27 There's your candy.

00:09:30 That's the last of the peas, Mrs. Moran.

00:09:34 Can't seem to stock up enough for you folks.

00:09:36 Well, why don't you order more?

00:09:39 Ma'am, I could order till the cows come home.

00:09:42 But if the cannery don't have them, they can't send them.

00:09:45 And if they don't send them, I can't sell them.

00:09:50 Comes to $3.18.

00:09:53 $3.18.

00:09:55 My.

00:09:57 Enterprise is coming down.

00:09:59 About these peas, Mr. Peters.

00:10:01 Why can't the cannery send you enough?

00:10:04 Well, ma'am, it isn't only the cannery.

00:10:08 I was over there the other day, pestering them for more.

00:10:12 My customers are asking for them, says I.

00:10:15 Can't give them to you, says he.

00:10:17 Why not, says I.

00:10:19 Don't ask me, says he.

00:10:21 Ask the can maker.

00:10:23 So I took the buggy and drove over to the can maker.

00:10:27 And I did ask him.

00:10:39 I know you folks.

00:10:40 You can't be told.

00:10:41 You've got to be shown.

00:10:44 So let's take a look around.

00:10:48 Now, here's where we cut the body blanks.

00:10:51 This man here is forming the can body.

00:11:00 Here he's soldering the side seams.

00:11:09 Pretty slow work.

00:11:17 And over here, they're soldering on the tops and the bottoms.

00:11:22 Say, Frank, our friend here is hollering for more can goods.

00:11:28 How many cans do you think we'll turn out today?

00:11:31 Oh, you can figure it on maybe 600.

00:11:35 There you are.

00:11:36 I've got three men soldering here.

00:11:39 They can turn out only 600 cans a day.

00:11:43 We got calls for a lot more than that.

00:11:46 Why don't you hire more men?

00:11:49 You find them and I'll hire them.

00:11:51 Solderers don't grow on trees.

00:11:54 But by golly, fruit does.

00:11:56 The crops are coming in right now.

00:11:58 Canneries are crying for cans.

00:12:01 And you think you've got problems?

00:12:07 Now, mind you, ma'am,

00:12:10 Now, mind you, ma'am,

00:12:13 our local can maker is as good as any of them.

00:12:16 But it's just that can making is a slow process.

00:12:20 Here, Jimmy, come over here.

00:12:21 I want to show you something, son.

00:12:30 Here's a lesson you'll learn in school someday.

00:12:34 Crop and can geography, you might say.

00:12:38 Now, here's us.

00:12:40 Here's the can making plant.

00:12:42 Here's the cannery.

00:12:44 And here's the farmland.

00:12:46 Farmers are planting more land all the time.

00:12:49 Putting in more and more crops

00:12:51 because the cannery is here to take care of them.

00:12:55 Now, just imagine this same thing taking place all over.

00:12:59 Oh, there are lots of canneries and can makers in the growing areas.

00:13:04 But when harvest time rolls around and the crops come in,

00:13:08 it's the same story everywhere.

00:13:11 They're all swamped with orders that they just can't fill.

00:13:15 Yes, it was apparent that the task of serving a whole nation

00:13:19 was too big for the can production capacity available in those days.

00:13:25 The need was clear for a pooling of resources

00:13:28 in the interest of better experimentation,

00:13:31 research, engineering skill, and greater can production.

00:13:36 So, many can makers did combine their facilities

00:13:40 and pool their knowledge to form the American Can Company.

00:13:46 Thus, in 1901, was laid the foundation for advancements in can making

00:13:53 destined to serve mankind in war as well as peace.

00:13:58 But despite much early progress in can making,

00:14:02 it continued to be a slow process.

00:14:05 Part of the trouble was the can itself.

00:14:08 It didn't lend itself to mass production.

00:14:12 Then came a development that was to have far-reaching effect.

00:14:17 Say, you're right, Harry. This is different.

00:14:21 Certainly is a new basic idea in can making.

00:14:25 Let me see that.

00:14:32 No hole in the top?

00:14:34 Nope. Canners get them with this end entirely open

00:14:38 so they can pack whole tomatoes or peaches

00:14:41 or other fruits and vegetables in this can.

00:14:44 Don't have to cut things up. Consumers will love that.

00:14:48 How's it sealed? Solder?

00:14:50 No, that's another advantage, Jim.

00:14:53 No solder on the ends at all.

00:14:55 No solder? Well, how?

00:14:58 Well, we've got a machine that crimps the ends on

00:15:01 with a rubber composition gasket to keep them tight.

00:15:05 It's slow, but with your help, I think we can figure out a way to speed it up.

00:15:10 You know, it seems to me that canners should be able to fill and close these faster

00:15:14 than the old hole-in-cap can.

00:15:17 And it'll cut their costs down.

00:15:19 What's it called, Harry?

00:15:21 Sanitary can.

00:15:24 Sanitary can.

00:15:26 Mm-hmm. Good name.

00:15:29 By golly, if we just work out a way to turn these out in quality and fast...

00:15:33 That's just what's needed, fellas.

00:15:35 Let's get to work.

00:15:38 And get to work they did,

00:15:40 making improvements both in the can and the machinery

00:15:44 for its mass production and efficient use in canneries,

00:15:48 also in plants packing a host of non-food products.

00:15:53 But while their efforts and those of many others

00:15:56 were limited by the engineering developments of their day,

00:15:59 by the continued necessity for much handwork,

00:16:03 they were destined to revolutionize not only an industry,

00:16:08 but the distribution techniques, the shopping habits,

00:16:11 the very standard of diet of hundreds of millions of people.

00:16:17 As the combined knowledge and increased experience

00:16:20 of these pioneer can makers began to catch hold,

00:16:23 the tempo in each plant quickened.

00:16:26 The volume rose.

00:16:28 10,000 cans a day.

00:16:30 25,000.

00:16:32 50,000.

00:16:34 Yes, man finally had created the real answer

00:16:38 for preserving the fruits of land and sea indefinitely.

00:16:45 Thus farmers were encouraged to plant more land

00:16:48 and sell their increased crops to the canners.

00:16:52 And the swing to more profitable farming

00:16:55 lifted property values everywhere.

00:16:59 The same expansion was going on in the fishing industry

00:17:03 and the meat packing industry.

00:17:05 Better breeds, bigger herds,

00:17:07 due to the greater capacity of packers to can meat products.

00:17:13 All this because the can making industry

00:17:15 had faced and met nature's challenge.

00:17:19 Here is my limitless bounty for the taking.

00:17:23 Protect it well.

00:17:26 So today man controls the use of nature's gifts

00:17:30 far beyond the time of harvest.

00:17:34 At last man has the means for using the natural resources

00:17:38 of this great land to the utmost intended by its creator

00:17:43 thanks to the formation and growth of a great enterprise.

00:17:47 Moreover, far more people earning far more

00:17:52 have a part in this industry today

00:17:54 than could possibly have found employment

00:17:56 under the antique methods of the past.

00:18:01 Today the can making industry

00:18:03 turns out billions of metal cans a year.

00:18:07 Why one modern can line alone

00:18:09 produces over 200,000 cans in a single day.

00:18:15 Remember Frank and his 600 cans a day?

00:18:19 Well, it would take Frank with his old fashioned machines

00:18:24 and more than 60,000 can makers working with him

00:18:28 at least 25 years to produce the billions of cans

00:18:32 turned out by the industry every year.

00:18:36 But as in countless other industries here in our country

00:18:41 each man on a can making line today

00:18:44 produces far more because of the modern equipment

00:18:48 he has to work with.

00:18:50 Naturally this greater production means higher wages,

00:18:54 higher standards of living,

00:18:56 and even lower food costs for us all.

00:19:00 Now let's see how this manufacturing miracle

00:19:03 is brought to pass.

00:19:05 It begins here with steel.

00:19:09 Steel made to exacting specifications

00:19:12 determined by the can makers metallurgists.

00:19:15 Men who have pioneered with steel producers

00:19:17 to achieve this superior product for can making needs.

00:19:22 These particular sheets of steel

00:19:24 are already coated with a very thin layer of tin

00:19:28 and thus called tin plate.

00:19:32 In making cans it is necessary to ensure

00:19:35 the absolute protection of their contents

00:19:38 when the cans are later filled and sealed.

00:19:42 So the coating being added here

00:19:44 is an additional protective enamel lining

00:19:47 used for certain products.

00:19:55 In this baking oven it is dried and hardened.

00:19:58 When the plates with the coating baked to a golden color

00:20:01 emerge from the oven,

00:20:03 they are ready to be made into cans

00:20:05 for foods like corn, lima beans,

00:20:08 and countless other products.

00:20:12 Next the plate is cut into the right shapes and sizes

00:20:15 to form can bodies on this machine called a slitter.

00:20:24 These are body blanks.

00:20:29 Meanwhile other plate, cut to proper size,

00:20:32 is fed into machines which stamp out the ends

00:20:37 and curl their outer edges.

00:20:41 Into the curl of the ends is injected a rubber gasket material.

00:20:47 Graphically illustrated it looks like this.

00:20:52 Later on when the ends are seamed on the can body

00:20:55 this material will provide an airtight bond

00:20:58 between the body and the end pieces.

00:21:01 Now to make the can body.

00:21:04 This body maker actually operates too fast

00:21:07 for us to see how the can body is formed.

00:21:10 So after the body blanks,

00:21:12 which you saw being cut earlier,

00:21:14 are fed into the body maker,

00:21:16 we will follow its intricate steps in slow motion

00:21:19 and with graphic illustrations.

00:21:25 First the body blanks move to a notching station.

00:21:29 Here small notches are cut from the corners

00:21:32 to eliminate a double thickness of metal

00:21:34 when the ends are seamed on.

00:21:40 The body blank is then formed

00:21:42 and hooked into the familiar shape of the can

00:21:45 around the body maker.

00:21:55 ♪♪

00:22:06 Next they are bumped to form and tighten the side seam.

00:22:11 ♪♪

00:22:23 The formed bodies then pass over fluxing wheels

00:22:26 to a hot solder bath

00:22:28 where solder is applied to the outside of the side seam.

00:22:32 The side seam is then wiped off

00:22:34 and cooled by a blast of air.

00:22:38 Then the bodies speed along

00:22:39 to where they are flanged at each end

00:22:42 so the tops and bottoms will fit on.

00:22:45 ♪♪

00:22:52 Now you see why the body blanks were notched.

00:22:55 The notches eliminate a double thickness of metal

00:22:58 where the side seam overlaps the flanged part.

00:23:03 Only two layers come together at this point,

00:23:06 thus permitting a perfect seal

00:23:08 when the end pieces are seamed on.

00:23:12 Here in the can making plant,

00:23:14 only one of the end pieces is double seamed in place

00:23:17 and the other end left open

00:23:19 so the cans may be easily filled at the canneries.

00:23:22 This operation is extremely important.

00:23:25 It calls for the utmost precision.

00:23:28 ♪♪

00:23:38 One end is placed on the can body.

00:23:41 ♪♪

00:23:50 It curls over the flange on the body

00:23:52 in precisely the right amount.

00:23:55 Remember that rubber gasket material

00:23:57 in the curl of the end pieces?

00:24:00 Well, this material provides a bond

00:24:03 between layers of metal

00:24:05 to ensure a permanent airtight seal

00:24:08 as they are pressed together

00:24:10 to give us the finished double seam.

00:24:12 ♪♪

00:24:15 Later, when the cans have been filled in a cannery,

00:24:18 the other end will be double seamed on

00:24:21 in the same way with exactly the same precision.

00:24:26 But returning to the can making line,

00:24:29 our cans, with only one end seamed on,

00:24:33 leave the double seamer ready for final testing.

00:24:37 Fresh air is a wonderful thing,

00:24:40 but not in a can.

00:24:43 By means of air pressure,

00:24:44 this machine detects a can that might leak air

00:24:49 and tosses it out as a suspect

00:24:53 to be checked separately

00:24:55 against a can like the red one we know to be a leaker.

00:25:00 And that's it.

00:25:01 The seemingly simple can requires such precision

00:25:05 in its making that any variation

00:25:07 in excess of a few thousandths of an inch

00:25:10 are sufficient to cause automatic rejection.

00:25:13 This ability to achieve high-speed production

00:25:16 with such precision

00:25:17 has placed the can manufacturing industry

00:25:20 in the front rank

00:25:21 of the mass production leaders of the world.

00:25:25 But how do all these billions of cans

00:25:28 get to the right place

00:25:30 at the right time?

00:25:32 Food cans, for instance.

00:25:34 Well, that takes a lot of planning,

00:25:37 a lot of experience,

00:25:38 and good teamwork between the can manufacturer,

00:25:41 the canner, and the farmer.

00:25:45 Actually, there's hardly a minute of the day or night

00:25:48 that you won't see trucks loaded with containers

00:25:52 or freight cars similarly loaded

00:25:55 on their way to the canneries scattered across the land.

00:25:59 Such journeys are initiated at the canneries,

00:26:02 but there's more to it

00:26:03 than just loading a truck or freight car.

00:26:07 Because with all man's controls,

00:26:10 there's still one thing about nature he can't change,

00:26:14 the uncertainty of the weather.

00:26:17 So if the weather holds good,

00:26:19 crops should be ready about the 30th,

00:26:22 give or take a day on either side.

00:26:24 Mm-hmm.

00:26:25 So you'll want your cans around the...

00:26:27 Can you make it the 21st?

00:26:29 21st it is.

00:26:30 How many?

00:26:31 We better have two carloads a day till the pack is complete.

00:26:35 You'll get them.

00:26:36 Oh, I know I can depend on you,

00:26:38 but if there's any change in the weather,

00:26:40 you'll be hearing from us.

00:26:41 We've got to be ready when the crop is.

00:26:44 And that readiness depends upon the weather.

00:26:47 But weather and its effect on a crop like peas, for example,

00:26:51 is a mighty unpredictable thing.

00:26:54 You can't depend on guesswork.

00:26:58 That's why the American Can Company developed this machine,

00:27:02 the tenderometer.

00:27:05 It shows when a pea crop has reached the proper stage of maturity

00:27:09 for best quality.

00:27:14 Such information,

00:27:16 together with a council of agronomists sent out by the can makers,

00:27:20 helps canners and farmers select the right time for harvesting.

00:27:24 Well, what do you think?

00:27:26 I'd say you can start taking them in next Monday.

00:27:29 Any special time of the day, or do you leave that up to me?

00:27:32 Monday's okay with me.

00:27:35 But sometimes unexpected things happen.

00:27:39 Well, it's plenty hot out here.

00:27:41 The temperature shot right up.

00:27:43 We took another tenderometer reading this morning,

00:27:45 and it shows our peas are going to be ready much sooner than we figured.

00:27:49 We've got to have cans right away.

00:27:52 Okay, Ed, of course we'll get cans to you.

00:27:55 Well, don't worry. We'll get them there on time, too.

00:27:58 And so it goes,

00:28:00 for the entire can-making industry operates on this principle.

00:28:05 Enough cans at the right place at the right time

00:28:09 to meet the canner's needs.

00:28:12 Thus, every year, billions of cans go out into the world

00:28:16 packed with the yield of land and sea

00:28:18 to say nothing of myriads of other products for man's use.

00:28:22 And every can must speak for itself.

00:28:26 Wherever it's opened, whenever it's opened,

00:28:29 whatever it contains,

00:28:31 the contents must be in perfect condition.

00:28:35 The word for that is dependability.

00:28:40 Dependability built by the eternal vigilance

00:28:44 of modern industry and science into every single can.

00:28:49 For whatever the contents,

00:28:51 whatever their ultimate purpose,

00:28:53 the goal is satisfaction.

00:28:59 There is nothing more important

00:29:01 than serving the health and well-being of multitudes of people.

00:29:05 Providing protective containers for the food of a nation

00:29:08 is such a service,

00:29:10 about which here's something to remember.

00:29:13 No, no, Joan, don't do that.

00:29:15 You're throwing away the best part.

00:29:17 Well, it's only water.

00:29:20 Water nothing.

00:29:22 That's the liquid they were cooked in.

00:29:25 It's full of vitamins and minerals.

00:29:28 By throwing this away would be like,

00:29:31 well, like stewing a chicken and throwing away the broth.

00:29:34 Right.

00:29:36 For not only do canned foods contain as much nutrition

00:29:39 as fresh cooked foods,

00:29:41 but nature's own nutrients are sealed in

00:29:44 when these foods are at their very best,

00:29:46 and none of the precious values can escape.

00:29:52 Now let's heat the liquid,

00:29:54 and we'll add the peas just a few minutes

00:29:56 before we're ready to serve.

00:29:58 The liquid will keep them hot,

00:30:00 and you know they are already cooked perfectly.

00:30:03 You can depend on that.

00:30:06 Dependability and nutrition.

00:30:09 These essential characteristics of canned foods

00:30:12 are assured by constant laboratory studies

00:30:14 of canning techniques.

00:30:17 The first laboratory in the industry devoted to such studies

00:30:21 was established by the American Can Company in 1906.

00:30:26 Since then, scientific study and research

00:30:29 have grown with the industry.

00:30:31 Today it reaches into every phase of canning and can making.

00:30:36 Tin plate, for instance.

00:30:39 Tin itself comes from far off lands.

00:30:42 Thus, every world crisis threatens its supply.

00:30:47 The can making industry is therefore working on coatings

00:30:50 and bonding materials that will replace tin in can making,

00:30:54 will be better than tin,

00:30:56 and best of all, always available here on our own continent.

00:31:02 Thus, industry constantly looks to the combined skills

00:31:06 of science and manufacturing to solve many problems

00:31:09 which directly affect our daily lives.

00:31:13 For instance, behind this simple, familiar twist of the wrist

00:31:17 lies a story of teamwork typical of the achievements

00:31:21 in the can making industry

00:31:23 that bring the homemaker convenience and satisfaction.

00:31:28 Here's how it came about.

00:31:31 Ed, this is Mr. Ward, the coffee roaster I told you about.

00:31:34 Mr. Ward, meet Ed Allen of our research staff.

00:31:36 Pleased to meet you.

00:31:37 How do you do?

00:31:38 Tell Ed what you're up against, Mr. Ward.

00:31:40 Well, it's short and sweet.

00:31:41 We pack coffee.

00:31:43 Here's the container we're using.

00:31:45 It's good, but it's not airtight.

00:31:48 Now you know coffee when it's freshly ground and exposed to air.

00:31:52 Naturally, it loses freshness.

00:31:54 And there goes our flavor.

00:31:57 After it's been on the shelf for a while,

00:31:59 you can guess what we've got.

00:32:01 Mm-hmm.

00:32:02 Stale coffee, probably, if it stays there long enough.

00:32:05 Right, and folks don't like it.

00:32:08 Well, there's only one real answer to that.

00:32:10 Since it's the air that ruins your coffee,

00:32:13 you've got to take the air out of the can.

00:32:16 A vacuum coffee can is what you need.

00:32:18 That sounds good, but I've never seen a vacuum coffee can

00:32:21 which was easy to pack and easy for the housewife to open.

00:32:25 Well, those are our problems, and they're tough ones.

00:32:30 Let's work on them.

00:32:36 It's sure a puzzle.

00:32:38 You've got to develop a can strong enough to hold a vacuum,

00:32:42 and yet it'll be easy to open.

00:32:48 Let me think it over a while.

00:32:50 I'll try to come up with something.

00:32:52 But I warn you, it may need designing machinery to produce it.

00:32:56 You let me worry about that.

00:32:58 Call me when you get an idea.

00:33:19 Hello? Hello?

00:33:22 Bill, this is John.

00:33:24 Got a pencil and paper?

00:33:26 Huh?

00:33:27 Wake up!

00:33:28 This is what you've been waiting for.

00:33:30 Grab a pencil.

00:33:32 All right.

00:33:45 All right.

00:33:46 Okay.

00:33:48 Draw yourself a sanitary can,

00:33:51 only a little shorter and about five inches in diameter.

00:33:57 Okay.

00:34:07 Got it?

00:34:08 Yeah, yeah, go on.

00:34:10 Now, draw a bead on it about one inch from the top.

00:34:21 Right.

00:34:22 Now, cut away part of the can to show the inside.

00:34:27 Okay.

00:34:34 Okay.

00:34:35 Now, inside the can,

00:34:38 draw a collar from the bottom of the bead

00:34:41 up to the underside of the cover,

00:34:44 and add a curl to the top of the collar.

00:34:50 I've got it.

00:34:51 All right.

00:34:53 Now, push the bottom of the collar into the bead

00:34:56 to hold it in place,

00:34:58 and just above the bead,

00:35:01 draw a double score on the outside of the can.

00:35:06 Go ahead.

00:35:08 Now, at the end of the score,

00:35:11 over the side seam,

00:35:13 add a tongue about a half an inch long.

00:35:20 All right.

00:35:21 Now, can you make that?

00:35:23 Sure we can make it, but what is it?

00:35:26 What is it?

00:35:28 Well, put a key on it to wind off the scored strip,

00:35:33 and that's our new, easy, opening vacuum coffee can.

00:35:39 John, I think you've got something, but how about vacuum packing?

00:35:43 Well, John had the answer for that, too.

00:35:48 After the cans are filled with coffee and loosely covered,

00:35:52 they pass into a chamber

00:35:54 where a vacuum closing machine draws out the air.

00:35:58 Almost at the same time,

00:36:00 the covers are tightly double-seamed on

00:36:03 so that no air can possibly get back in.

00:36:07 So from then on, the vacuum coffee can

00:36:10 not only solved the roaster's problem

00:36:13 of protecting his product's freshness,

00:36:15 even though months or years might pass

00:36:17 before the cans were opened,

00:36:19 but it also met the consumer's demand for easy opening.

00:36:25 More than that, it led to other developments

00:36:28 that make the housewife's job easier,

00:36:30 for it was an ideal container for a variety of products,

00:36:34 especially shortening.

00:36:36 So for freshness and convenience,

00:36:39 instead of this,

00:36:41 this.

00:36:44 And for sanitary protection, neatness, cleanliness,

00:36:48 instead of this,

00:36:50 this.

00:36:56 Or perhaps the whole story can be summed up

00:36:59 in the vast difference between this

00:37:02 and, with all it signifies in our modern way of life,

00:37:07 this.

00:37:09 So a basic idea adapted to human needs

00:37:13 is like a pebble dropped in a pool.

00:37:16 The need is the pebble.

00:37:18 The pool, our democratic way of life.

00:37:21 And the answer,

00:37:23 the ring spreading ever outward,

00:37:25 touching the lives of millions

00:37:27 for everlasting good.

00:37:30 That is why this key is not just a little household gadget,

00:37:35 but a symbol of challenges met

00:37:37 and victories won for the good of all.

00:37:42 Many needs, many challenges, and many answers.

00:37:46 Whether containers of steel or paper

00:37:49 or a combination of both,

00:37:50 they are products of a canmaker's imagination and skills.

00:37:55 Here are some of them, just a few.

00:37:58 All of them we know, we recognize.

00:38:01 Each one instantly familiar to us from almost daily use.

00:38:07 Many of their colorful and informative labels,

00:38:10 as seen on store shelves,

00:38:12 were skillfully lithographed and permanently baked on

00:38:15 in the canmaking plant,

00:38:17 all as part of the canmaking process.

00:38:27 This too, while not a can,

00:38:30 it had its beginning in the minds of canmakers

00:38:33 whose skill in shaping, sealing, and mass-producing metal containers

00:38:38 was applied to the problem of fashioning from paper,

00:38:41 the ideal disposable container for the dairy industry.

00:38:46 Yes, these containers are familiar

00:38:48 because they are part of the pattern of our living,

00:38:51 an essential, indispensable part of our way of life,

00:38:55 even recreation.

00:38:57 Just another type of can.

00:39:00 Just as if these tennis balls were peas or beets or beans,

00:39:04 they will come out as perfect as they were when they were put in.

00:39:09 But while man may survive without tennis,

00:39:13 there have been all too many occasions

00:39:15 when a life has depended upon the blood plasma

00:39:18 in that very same kind of can,

00:39:21 coming out as perfect as it was when it went in.

00:39:26 To the men and women who make the can,

00:39:29 there could be no greater satisfaction

00:39:32 than its use for a purpose such as this.

00:39:36 Thus, every new idea sets in motion a succession of ideas

00:39:41 that expand in ever-widening circles.

00:39:46 So the miracle of the can continues,

00:39:49 bringing to countless supporting industries

00:39:52 added expansion and prosperity.

00:39:55 To millions of people, more jobs, greater security,

00:39:59 and a better way of life.

00:40:02 The can manufacturing industry

00:40:04 ranks among the first ten indispensable industries of the world.

00:40:10 Hundreds of thousands of men and women in the United States,

00:40:13 Canada, Hawaii, Alaska, and elsewhere

00:40:16 depend upon its continuing prosperity.

00:40:20 Its bright future is theirs.

00:40:23 This achievement,

00:40:25 this present-day flowering of the seeds of enterprise

00:40:28 first planted by the pioneer can makers of America

00:40:32 and nurtured by their successors,

00:40:34 has truly brought about a miracle of benefits to our people.

00:40:40 A miracle which continues daily for all people.

00:40:44 For today, every day is harvest day.

00:40:50 Daily we have the assurance of nature's bounty

00:40:53 both for today and tomorrow.

00:40:57 Much we have today,

00:41:00 and our promise of the future is ever more and more.

00:41:06 And just as harvest time means

00:41:08 more than the ending of one bountiful season,

00:41:12 it contains within itself the seeds of another fruitful spring.

00:41:19 So this humblest little servant of your daily life

00:41:22 contains not just a product,

00:41:25 but symbolizes a more abundant life

00:41:28 for all freedom-loving people everywhere in the world.

00:41:33 This is the miracle of the can.

01:01:47 Del Monte uses such high-speed equipment

01:01:49 to step up the harvest pace

01:01:51 to safeguard that distinctive quality

01:01:53 Del Monte demands in peas.

01:01:55 For Del Monte methods, like grasped by

01:01:57 Del Monte men, must lead

01:01:59 in the march of progress.

01:02:03 Loaded now, looking like

01:02:04 a parade of gray-green circus elephants

01:02:06 linked trunk to tail,

01:02:08 the wagon train lumbers

01:02:10 across the fields to the fining station

01:02:12 for the next chapter of pea progress.

01:02:18 Hour after hour, the loaded wagons

01:02:20 roll up to the viners,

01:02:21 those shiny cylinders that look like

01:02:23 aluminum prairie schooners.

01:02:25 The vining station is the heartbeat

01:02:27 of the harvest, a teeming beehive

01:02:29 of men and machinery that does

01:02:31 what the housewife used to do by hand,

01:02:33 shell the peas.

01:02:35 This machine, supplanting slow, costly

01:02:37 hand methods, really put America

01:02:39 into the pea business in a big way.

01:02:42 What happens inside the viner

01:02:44 is much the same as if you tossed

01:02:45 a pea pod in the air and gave it

01:02:47 a firm whack with a flat paddle.

01:02:50 Inside the viner, huge paddles

01:02:52 set at just the right angle

01:02:54 smack each mass of falling pods and vines.

01:02:57 The air inside each pod is compressed

01:02:59 by the blow.

01:03:00 The pod bursts open at the seams

01:03:02 and the tender peas burst out,

01:03:04 just as firm and uninjured

01:03:06 as though you had shelled them by hand.

01:03:11 And so the harvest job goes on,

01:03:13 often through the night.

01:03:15 There's only one moment in the life

01:03:17 of every pea field when nature says,

01:03:19 now's the time to act.

01:03:21 And be it dawn or midnight,

01:03:23 that's the instant Del Monte men

01:03:25 spring into action.

01:03:26 Only such vigilance can capture

01:03:28 the tenderness and flavor for which

01:03:30 the Del Monte label always stands.

01:03:36 Short moments away from the harvest fields,

01:03:38 the peas arrive at the cannery

01:03:40 where they wonder perhaps,

01:03:42 what are these fellows doing?

01:03:44 But they'll have to get used

01:03:45 to constant inspection.

01:03:46 By the time they're ready for the shiny

01:03:48 tins at the other end of the cannery,

01:03:50 they'll be the most scrutinized peas

01:03:52 in the world.

01:03:57 Here is the dispatch room that starts

01:03:59 the peas over the packing line.

01:04:01 From here on, every pea will pass

01:04:03 through test after test,

01:04:05 elimination after elimination,

01:04:07 until at the end, only the very prime

01:04:09 peas will have won their spurs

01:04:11 for the Del Monte early garden pack.

01:04:13 From start to finish,

01:04:15 it's every pea for himself,

01:04:17 and only the fit survive.

01:04:22 Chapter one in the cannery story

01:04:24 is the shaker cleaner,

01:04:25 a cute gadget with a movement

01:04:27 like a rumba dancer,

01:04:28 only more of it.

01:04:30 The peas dance along until they find

01:04:32 a convenient little manhole to drop through,

01:04:34 while any pods, stems, or bits of vine

01:04:36 get shunted onto a side track.

01:04:38 This is just a sort of warmer upper,

01:04:40 those peas ain't seen nothing yet.

01:04:44 Now the peas cease to be land lovers

01:04:46 and turn into long-distance swimmers,

01:04:48 and what a dunking.

01:04:50 In the ripple washer, they shoot the shoots

01:04:52 in clean, fresh water,

01:04:54 so regulated that peas pass over,

01:04:56 while heavier matter is trapped in the ripples.

01:05:00 Then they get taken for a ride

01:05:02 by a spiral conveyor that boosts them

01:05:04 along to a rotary washer.

01:05:06 Being heavier than water,

01:05:08 peas sink to the bottom.

01:05:10 Bits of stems, leaves, or skins

01:05:12 are skimmed off the top.

01:05:14 By now, Mr. and Mrs. Pea

01:05:16 began to think life in a cannery

01:05:18 is one long Saturday night.

01:05:20 In the rotary washer,

01:05:22 they take a scrubbing like a small boy

01:05:24 whose folks are expecting company.

01:05:26 If peas had ears, this washer

01:05:28 would gut behind them, and that's no foolin'.

01:05:34 The next operation gives two things,

01:05:36 an elevator ride and a bubble bath.

01:05:38 As the peas travel up a pipe conveyor

01:05:40 to the top floor of the cannery,

01:05:42 the water that carries them

01:05:44 is bubbled constantly

01:05:46 by a stop-and-go surge of water.

01:05:48 Every little pea goes to the top

01:05:50 in a billow of foam

01:05:52 and gets a shampoo in the bargain.

01:05:58 The water separator drains the peas

01:06:00 and at the same time eliminates

01:06:02 loose skins and broken pieces.

01:06:06 Now here's real magic,

01:06:08 the Colossus Grader,

01:06:10 and what sleight of hand stunts it does.

01:06:12 Up to this point,

01:06:14 peas of every size are mixed together

01:06:16 like a herd of sheep,

01:06:18 but that's no go when you're after flavor.

01:06:20 It takes skillful blending

01:06:22 of just the right sizes to give that

01:06:24 natural June morning taste

01:06:26 so characteristic of the early garden blend.

01:06:28 No one size or sieve

01:06:30 of peas can do it alone.

01:06:32 No hit or miss assortment of sizes

01:06:34 can do it either,

01:06:36 so let's see what goes into the Del Monte

01:06:38 early garden blend.

01:06:42 These peas sit for their portrait

01:06:44 just as they came off the vines,

01:06:46 a jumbled collection of mixed-up sizes.

01:06:48 Many of them just don't have

01:06:50 what it takes for Del Monte,

01:06:52 so let's put them through the grader

01:06:54 and sort them into their respective sizes.

01:06:56 Now as peas grow in size,

01:06:58 their flavor undergoes

01:07:00 marked changes.

01:07:02 These two young fellows are weak and watery.

01:07:04 Flavor hasn't yet had a chance to develop.

01:07:06 So Del Monte says,

01:07:08 out you go.

01:07:12 As peas approach old age,

01:07:14 their sugars change to starch,

01:07:16 so these overgrown ones,

01:07:18 hard and starchy,

01:07:20 their flavor gone,

01:07:22 are ruled out too.

01:07:24 It's the blending of those in-between sizes

01:07:26 that gives the true natural pea flavor,

01:07:28 and that's exactly what Del Monte

01:07:30 takes for its early garden blend,

01:07:32 the pick of the pod.

01:07:36 Gee, I guess that's why they taste so good.

01:07:38 Why, of course.

01:07:40 You know, I can hear my mother now.

01:07:42 Feel the pods, son, she'd say.

01:07:44 Take just the best ones.

01:07:46 So I'd leave those

01:07:48 skinny little flat ones that had no flavor

01:07:50 and the big old ones

01:07:52 that were hard and starchy

01:07:54 and take just the prime, plump ones

01:07:56 like they do at that cannery.

01:07:58 How were they good?

01:08:00 Yes, sir, those peas we had tonight

01:08:02 were just like old times.

01:08:08 Yes, that's one important keynote

01:08:10 to Del Monte flavor.

01:08:12 The Colossus Grader at one fell swoop

01:08:14 unravels those mixed-up sizes

01:08:16 and catalogs them for blending.

01:08:18 The little ones first, the big ones last.

01:08:20 And there you are.

01:08:22 So far, so good.

01:08:24 Our peas are nicely segregated

01:08:26 into proper sizes.

01:08:28 But now another safeguard.

01:08:30 The Quality Grader

01:08:32 gives them a double check for prime perfection.

01:08:34 In its continuous brine bath,

01:08:36 any hard, starchy peas

01:08:38 sink to the bottom

01:08:40 like pebbles in a duck pond.

01:08:42 The tender, sweet ones, being of lighter

01:08:44 specific gravity, bob up to the top

01:08:46 and travel swiftly on

01:08:48 to further proving grounds.

01:08:50 Still the elimination race goes on.

01:08:52 From the Quality Grader,

01:08:54 the peas travel on to white conveyor belts

01:08:56 where sharp-eyed experts

01:08:58 armed with automatic pickers

01:09:00 are on the alert for broken or discolored peas.

01:09:06 This is just one more safeguard

01:09:08 to the quality of that early garden blend.

01:09:20 After this careful working over,

01:09:22 the peas roll off the belt

01:09:24 and into hoppers

01:09:26 that channel them into the blending plumes.

01:09:28 These bring together peas

01:09:30 of the selected sizes.

01:09:32 Not too young, not too old,

01:09:34 but just those exactly right

01:09:36 in-between sizes

01:09:38 to produce that natural, delicate,

01:09:40 right-off-the-vine flavor.

01:09:42 There's no hit or miss,

01:09:44 no guesswork in that famous Del Monte pack.

01:09:46 When these selected middle sizes

01:09:48 come together in the final blend,

01:09:50 you get a balance of the finest flavor

01:09:52 ever captured from a garden

01:09:54 on a dewy, jewel morning.

01:09:58 Up to this point, it has been a long series

01:10:00 of cold tubs and showers

01:10:02 for those fast-traveling peas.

01:10:04 Now, in this long cylinder, the blancher,

01:10:06 they take their first hot water plunge,

01:10:08 winding up a cleaning job

01:10:10 that started way back at the other end of the cannery.

01:10:12 And then,

01:10:14 just as you'd do in your own shower

01:10:16 of a morning,

01:10:18 the peas jump under that last cold spray

01:10:20 on the shaker washer.

01:10:22 By now,

01:10:24 every one of those ambitious young peas

01:10:26 knows its bend places

01:10:28 and no mistake about it.

01:10:32 Comes now the final ordeal,

01:10:34 a rigid inspection for broken pieces

01:10:36 or discolored specimens.

01:10:38 If a pea can get by this gauntlet

01:10:40 to the end of its life,

01:10:42 then it's a pea

01:10:44 that can get by

01:10:46 this gauntlet to the end of its life.