Archives West Finding Aid

Edwin Norton and T.G. Cranwell founded Continental Can Company in 1904 with $500,000 in startup capital. The newly formed company purchased canning machinery patents and established factories in Chicago and Syracuse, New York. They began shipping cans in April 1905. Food packing cans at the time were 98.5 percent steel with an outer coating of tin plate to prevent rusting. To assure a steady supply of tin, Continental Can bought the Standard Tin Plate Company in 1909. Initially, Continental Can Company’s production consisted of seasonal packer cans for fruits and vegetables. In 1912, the company entered the field of year-round general canning. Acquisition and diversification were largely responsible for Continental Can Company’s growth. In its first 50 years, the company purchased and absorbed 28 independent can companies.

John Fox founded Seattle-Astoria Iron Works in 1881, then known as Astoria Iron Works. The company designed and manufactured innovative machinery and tools used in the Columbia River salmon canneries. In 1906, Nelson Troyer joined Astoria Iron Works as vice president. Troyer was well known in the canning business and formerly associated with American Can Company, Continental Can’s main competitor. In 1913, Astoria Iron Works opened a large factory in Seattle at 601 Myrtle Street and became the Seattle-Astoria Iron Works.

During the 1920s, Continental Can moved its headquarters to New York and expanded rapidly by buying competing firms. In 1928, the first west coast plant was acquired in Los Angeles, and a second one opened in Seattle the following year. Continental Can Company purchased the Seattle-Astoria Iron Works in 1928 and the name was changed to Troyer-Fox Manufacturing Company. In 1932, Continental Can Company of New York dissolved Troyer-Fox Manufacturing Company and absorbed their assets.

By 1934, Continental Can was operating 38 plants in the United States and Cuba and had never experienced a money-losing year. Net income reached a new high of 10.7 million in 1934. During the Great Depression, Continental Can employed nearly 12,000 workers. Continental Can’s extensive acquisition program continued into the 1940s and it entered the business of paper and fiber containers, bottle caps and synthetic resins. In 1940, Continental Can operated three machine shops in Seattle, Chicago, and Syracuse, New York where engineers and machinists designed and built specialized equipment. Continental Can Company leased can-sealing equipment to customers and also manufactured all the machinery for their own can-making operations.

In the early 1970s, annual sales reached $2 billion and Continental Can ranked as the number one U.S. can manufacturer. In 1976, Continental Can became part of the Continental Group, a conglomerate with operations in many industries. At the end of the 1980s, the remnants of Continental Can Company were acquired by the U.S. Can Company, headquartered in Chicago.