HE WAS 210 CM TALL AND WEIGHED ABOUT 450 KG, HALF OF WHICH WERE BATTERIES.
Immediately after World War II, American Can Company, already a leader in the industry, wanted to create a new medium to gain space in local newspapers. Marketing came up with the mascot “Canco Charlie”, an imposing automaton made of metal cans with the head of a ventriloquist’s dummy.
It measured 7 feet (210 cm) and weighed about 450 kg, half of which were the batteries needed to move it. In fact, Charlie was able to shake hands, move his mouth, roll his eyes, whistle at pretty girls and dance a lively rumba. American Can Co. launched the Robot at the 1950 edition of the National Canners Association annual convention under the name “Prince Alloy Can”, quickly changed to the more friendly “Canco Charlie”.
To make the most of it, Charlie was put in a truck-trailer and sent around the country as a “Goodwill Ambassador,” stopping at county fairs and whistling at pretty girls. In addition to attending the inaugurations of Canco’s new factories, Charlie actively participated in the campaign to solicit blood donations. Later, the Maryland Highway Safety Commission recruited Charlie for its safe driving campaign:
appeared throughout communities across the state telling drivers to “slow down and live” and pedestrians to “look before you go.”
Canco Charlie’s last appearance was in October 1953 at the Canco Fairport plant, exactly where the first double seam cans were industrially manufactured some 50 years earlier.
