This is known as a hole-in-cap can. During the canning process, the food was placed inside the can and then a circular lid was soldered into place to cover the large central hole. A small pinhole was left in the center for steam to escape through during the vacuum sealing process. Then a drop of lead was put over the pinhole to seal it from any contamination from bacteria or germs. Unfortunately, the lead solder used in these cans was very hazardous to human health, especially when people cooked the contents directly in the can. For this reason, hole-in-top cans were replaced after 1897 when new canning machines began to produce modern sanitary cans without lead solder. At the farm, 18 of the hole-in-top cans were found, and only four modern sanitary cans.
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University of Texas at Austin
College of Liberal Arts
