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Comment by vpilcx | Hacker News Reader

It's interesting this would pop up, because I was just thinking yesterday about how the holes of cans used to be a different shape. I believe it was mid to late 90's. They switched over to a larger hole.

I was telling my mom and she was telling me that it didn't happen. I was hoping they were going to cover this in the video but no such luck. This did actually happen, right?

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I have a memory of this, too. I remember the first soda I encountered with the larger opening being Surge.

All the other sodas I saw at the time had this opening: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/POE_Stay...

Then, not long after Surge, I started seeing the larger opening on everything.

Just for reference, it's called the 'wide mouth'. Here's the section of the Wikipedia article that references it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drink_can?useskin=vector#Wide_...

Interestingly, I would have said that narrow mouth cans were available well into the 2000s in Australia. I distinctly remember seeing the first wide mouth cans replacing them. It's possible that because I remember them being introduced that they feel much newer than they are, though.

Yes at least in Germany you used to open cans by a lever and pull a small opening open by ripping a piece of the lid away. That usually left quite sharp edges, which I guess is why they changed the design.

You can see some of the old openings in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaH6q7cZv8Y

Edit correct video link

Don't think that video is correct

What's not correct about it?

Do you mean relevant?

I'm so confused. GP was talking about old pull tabs, and showed them in a video. You said "I don't think that video is correct."

The video does inded show old pull tabs. What's not "correct" about it?

He edited it. It was a random video before. Thought you were arguing about that incorrect video and saying I should've used the word relevant vs wrong. It's fixed now.

Same in UK. But I suspect they changed the design primarily to eliminate the litter caused by discarding the ring-pull piece?

Litter. And pull tab litter ending up slicing peoples' feet open. And idiots opening their beveragem dropping the pull tab inside, drinking it and slicing up their throat. No, they don't go all the way down, but they'll play hell with the soft tissue in the back of your mouth.

"Nurishment" cans, often found in the foreign foods aisle, still use the old style ring pull.

I'd guess it's because they are intended to be drunk like a soda can, but packaged in a tinned-sweetcorn style can. Those cans are unpressurized, use steel, and have significantly thicker walls (= more material cost)

I do wonder why they never decided to switch over? Perhaps they consider it part of the brand? Perhaps they still run the same canning factory for decades and without expanding sales don't see a need to retool? Perhaps the 2 pence per 1.50 product are insignificant when they have quite a market niche.

I remember grownups telling me how terrible the change was, because any dust on the tab now flipped downward and fell into the can, whereas before it was pulled away.

I was never that concerned myself.

as a kid, we'd break the tab from the pull ring and then insert the fat end of the tab into the slot on the pull ring. we'd pull the ring back on the pull tab and release the ring flying. if we were really bored, we might actually go find the ring and do it again. i was surprised at how far these could fly like this.

Same in the USA. I still find those old cans when hiking.

Same in the US. Called "pop tops" so if you were ever wondering what Jimmy Buffet cut his heal on in Margaritaville, now you know.

I remember commercials about the new bigger mouth. One where someone was choking on food and the it was like, "don't you sometimes wish you had a bigger mouth?".

Some quick googling found an old beer commercial [1]

[1]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHXNtb27IY8

Yes it happened around the mid 90s, I remember the change. Look up vintage cans of soda on ebay and such: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=vintage+soda+aluminum+c...

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