THE UNUSUAL STORY OF THE GALICIAN WHO INVENTED THE MODERN CAN OPENER

Until the invention of the first can opener, the first cans were very heavy and thick-walled, which meant a great effort to open them. Until the invention of the first can opener, cans had to be opened with a hammer, a blow or a sharp object. The first can openers appeared in the 1850s but they were very cumbersome and heavy. Some were very popular, such as those decorated with a bull’s head and tail, which were handed out with cans of beef.

Everything changed in 1906, thanks to the Galician José Valle Armesto, who had the brilliant idea of inventing the modern can opener. In 1905, Valle settled in Gijón where, together with a capitalist partner, he bought an industrial building. Since 1906 it has been dedicated solely and exclusively to the manufacture of the modern pocket can opener baptized with the commercial name of ‘The Spanish explorer’.

With a surprisingly simple design, just three metal parts combined in an ingenious way, it was as easy to make as it was to use, store or transport. In addition, it could be used for four different functions: opening cans, screwdriver, opening bottles with crown caps and piercing containers leaving a small hole through which to extract their contents.

As for the design, an engraved image of a hiker, who was originally the main beneficiary of the invention, was added at the widest part, and at the top, embedded in a mechanical gear wheel, were the three initials of the name of its creator, JVA.

Valle never skimped on publicity, his advertisements were regular features in the national press talking about his great invention. In some advertisements you could read: The pocket can opener, the Spanish explorer that saves from many troubles, the most practical and simple can opener, or the hiker’s friend. In short, it fulfilled its mission to perfection.

During the 54 years that it survived its creation, José never stopped coming to his factory to personally review production, but the passing of the years made production obsolete, and José Valle Armesto SA would end up closing down definitively at the end of the 1960s.

The last renewal of the patent for ‘El Explorador Español’ at the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office took place on August 31, 1966. Without a doubt, his great little invention continues to make life easier for thousands of people around the world today.