Ever tried to open a can of soda with your bare hands? You can’t. Back in the day, you literally couldn't get into a beer or a soda without a "church key"—that heavy, awkward metal piercer that everyone seemed to lose exactly when they needed it most. It was a massive pain. Then came Ermal "Ernie" Fraze. He’s the guy usually credited as the pop top can inventor, and honestly, his "Aha!" moment happened because of a totally relatable, frustrating mistake.
It was 1959. Fraze was at a family picnic. He had brought along some cold drinks, but—classic move—he forgot the opener. He ended up having to use a car bumper to pry his drinks open. It was messy. It was ridiculous. Sitting there, probably covered in a bit of spray and definitely annoyed, he decided there had to be a better way. This wasn't just a minor inconvenience for him; it was a design flaw in modern life.
The Engineering Behind the Snap
Fraze wasn't just some random guy with a grudge against tin. He was the owner of the Dayton Reliable Tool and Manufacturing Company. He knew metal. He knew how it moved, how it broke, and how it could be manipulated. But making a can that opens itself isn't as simple as just putting a tab on top. You have to deal with internal pressure. Carbonated drinks are basically tiny, delicious bombs waiting to go off. If you weaken the metal too much, the can explodes in the warehouse. If you don't weaken it enough, you're back to using the car bumper.
The trick was the rivet.
Before Fraze figured it out, people tried to glue or weld tabs onto cans. It didn't work. The seal would fail, or the metal would tear in weird directions. Fraze’s genius was in the "integral rivet." He figured out how to press a portion of the can lid upward to form a tiny stud, then fit the tab over it and flatten it back down. This meant the tab was part of the lid itself. No holes. No leaks. Just physics.
By 1963, he had patented the "pull-top" or "pop-top." It changed the industry overnight. Iron City Beer in Pittsburgh was the first to take a gamble on it. People loved it. They loved it so much that by 1965, about 75% of all beer brewers in the US were using Fraze's design. It was a revolution in a 12-ounce package.
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Why the Original Pop Top Was Actually a Disaster
Okay, so the drinks were easier to open. Great. But there was a massive, disgusting problem that nobody really predicted. The original design was a "pull-tab." You pulled the ring, the entire strip of metal came off, and then... what?
People threw them on the ground. Everywhere.
If you grew up in the 60s or 70s, or if you’ve ever walked on an old beach, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Sharp, jagged little curls of aluminum were the cigarette butts of the era. They were everywhere. They sliced open feet. Dogs ate them. Fish swallowed them. Jimmy Buffett even immortalized the struggle in "Margaritaville" with the line about stepping on a pop top and cutting his heel. It was a literal public health hazard.
There was also the "choking hazard" aspect. A lot of people, not wanting to litter, would just drop the metal tab back into the can. Then they’d take a big gulp and—oops—swallow a sharp piece of aluminum. Not ideal for a refreshing beverage experience.
The Transition to the Stay-on-Tab
The industry knew the pull-tab's days were numbered. Environmental groups were screaming, and the liability was through the roof. Enter Omar Brown and Dan Cudzik. While Fraze gave us the ability to open the can, Cudzik—an engineer at Reynolds Metals—refined it into what we use today: the stay-on-tab.
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Cudzik’s design, which hit the market in the mid-70s, used a lever action. Instead of pulling the metal off, you used the tab to press a pre-scored section of the lid inward. It stayed attached. No litter. No sliced heels. No swallowing metal.
It sounds simple now, but the math was incredibly difficult. You had to ensure the "score line"—the part where the metal is thinned out—was precise to within microns. If it was too deep, the pressure of the soda would burst the can during shipping. If it was too shallow, you'd need the grip of a powerlifter to get your Coke open.
What Most People Get Wrong About Can History
You’ll often hear people say Fraze "invented the can." He didn't. Cans had been around since the early 19th century, mostly for preserved food. Even beer cans had been a thing since 1935 (Krueger’s Finest Beer was the pioneer there). Fraze just solved the "last mile" problem of the user interface.
Another misconception is that the design hasn't changed since the 70s. Actually, the technology is still evolving. Modern cans use way less aluminum than they did forty years ago. We’ve moved from "straight-wall" cans to "neck-in" designs where the top is narrower than the body. Why? Because the lid is the most expensive part of the can. By making the diameter smaller, companies save billions in material costs over a year.
The "ecology tab" or stay-on design was also a huge win for recycling. Because the tab stays with the can, it actually makes it into the recycling bin instead of being lost in the dirt. Aluminum is infinitely recyclable, and the stay-on-tab is a big reason why the aluminum can is the most recycled beverage container on the planet.
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Looking Closer at the Engineering Today
If you pick up a can right now, look at the tab. Notice it isn't centered? It's slightly offset. That’s because the tab acts as a second-class lever. When you first lift the back of the tab, it acts as a vent, releasing the pressure (that "pssh" sound). Once the pressure is gone, the tab shifts its fulcrum and pushes the lid down. It’s a two-stage mechanical process happening in a fraction of a second.
It’s easy to take this for granted. We open millions of these a day without thinking. But the journey from a guy at a picnic with no tool to a multi-billion dollar precision-engineered industry is a masterclass in how small frustrations lead to massive innovation.
Actionable Insights for the Curious and the Makers
If you’re someone who looks at everyday objects and thinks "this could be better," there are a few things to take away from the Ermal Fraze story:
- Identify the "Car Bumper" Moments: Look for things in your daily life that require a "workaround." If you’re doing something "the hard way" because the tool doesn't exist, you've found a market gap.
- The First Solution Isn't the Final Solution: Fraze's pull-tab was a massive success, but it was also an environmental nightmare. True innovation involves iterating until the side effects are managed.
- Study the Material: Fraze succeeded because he understood the properties of aluminum better than his competitors. If you want to build something, you have to know what it's made of down to the molecular level.
- Think About the End-of-Life: Modern design isn't just about the user experience; it's about what happens when the user is done. The stay-on-tab succeeded because it accounted for the trash it created.
Next time you crack open a cold one, take a second to look at that little rivet. It’s not just a piece of metal; it’s a solution to a problem that once annoyed a guy in Ohio so much he changed the world.
Check your local recycling guidelines to see how aluminum processing has changed in your area—most modern facilities now use eddy current separators to specifically pull these cans out of the waste stream at high speeds, continuing the efficiency Fraze started.