My notes seem to suggest that can openers came along quite late which
explains why a lot of the milk cans have screwdriver shaped openings :--).
Some wag has even suggested that, from the begining, the bayonet was used
primarily as a can opener...
 
The rotary can opener without the serrated wheel came out in 1870. The rotary
can opener with the serrated wheel that we are familiar with; pat. 1925. The
"church Key", 1935.
 
Hmm, other canned foods... Campbells Pork & Beans, 1904. Chef-Boy-ar-dee
Spaghetti and Meat Balls, 1929.
 
                Lee, Kay and Marshall Lee, Edited by. "America's Favorites.". New York: G.
P. Putnam's Sons, 1980.
 Dates & places of food product introductions.
                Kane, Joseph Nathan. Kane's Famous First Facts: a Record of First
Happenings, Discoveries and Inventions in the United States. New York: H. W.
Wilson, 1964.
3rd edition.
 
Best,
 
Gene Prince
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