Pork and Beans

Recognizing the need for the growing population of the United State to have fruits and vegetables in the winter, Gilbert Van Camp, along with two partners, constructed the first commercial cold storage, and within a year was canning foods for sale. His business took off when he secured a contract to provide foods to the Union army.  Van Camp Pork and Beans soon became a staple for the troops. When the war ended, Van Camp’s business soared as veterans wanted to purchase the foods they’d come to know.

The ‘tomato sauce’ based pork and beans which became famous and is still produced today was invented by Gilbert’s son Frank in 1894. Within four years they were selling over six million cans of these beans each year. Van Camp’s Pork and Beans are still the second most popular canned beans, second to Bush’s Baked Beans. Frank also founded Van Camp’s Seafood (the name was later changed to Chicken of the Sea due to the popularity of the canned tuna fish slogan).

Preserving foods in tin cans verses glass jars started in the early 1800’s, however it was very labor intensive and expensive because each can had to be handmade out of tinned wrought iron.  The cans were also very large. Meat and pea soup were the most popular and the main market for canned foods at that time was sailing vessels. During that time, canned foods became a status symbol due to its price and a novelty. Nevertheless, there was soon a demand for canned foods, and by the mid-1800’s several inventions had been created to produce smaller machine made cans. It then became a race to meet the public’s demand for varieties of canned foods. Milk, meat, vegetables, soups, fruits, and other novel foodstuffs. Companies were soon able to manufacture bulk supplies of nonperishable foods, and by the end of the Civil War, the working class were able to afford canned foods, saving them from having to shop every day. Canned foods also became available for those heading west.

Even though the can had been around for some fifty years, the can-opener had not. The suggested way to open a can was with a chisel and hammer.  Ezra Warner invented the first can opener in 1858. Due to the fact it left a very jagged and sharp edge, it wasn’t overly popular. And it was very expensive. It also had several parts that broke rather easily, and were not replaceable. Warner’s can opener did serve the troops during the Civil War, and could be found in some stores, where the clerk would open the can for the customer before they left the store.  The hammer and chisel method, or whatever way people discovered to open their cans, continued to be the primary way to open cans until several other can openers, in a variety of shapes and sizes, were invented and became marketable.  The one we still know today, with the wheel that rolls around the rim of the can, was invented in 1870 by William Lyman.

One last tidbit…In 1974 samples of canned foods that had been recovered from the wreckage of a steamboat that had sunk in 1865 in the Missouri River were opened and the contents tested. The appearance, smell, and nutritional value of the contents had deteriorated, but there was no trace of spoilage or contamination and the 109 year-old-foods were determined safe to eat. 

On a final note, I have a new release. The Cowboy's Orphan Bride. 

Reunited with the cowboy! 
Long ago, orphans Bridgette Banks and Garth McCain made a promise to stay together. But it's been years since they were parted, and Bridgette's almost given up hope! So when Garth's cattle trail passes her town, she won't let him leave her behind again…

Sparks fly as they're reunited—especially when the cowboy catches Bridgette telling everyone she's his bride! Faced with a past he thought he'd lost forever, Garth realizes this impulsive beauty might be the future he never thought he deserved.