PRESS RELEASE: September 22, 2022
KICKING THE CAN: HISTORY & STORIES OF THE CANNING INDUSTRY ON THE EASTERN SHORE
Buying food in metal cans at the market is something we do without thinking much about how those time saving cans got there. For hundreds of years before canning societies preserved foods through drying, smoking, sugaring, freezing, and salting. The ability to safely store and ship food in glass and metal canisters dates only to the early 1800’s and since then has had a tremendous impact on history. Locally, the impact of the canning industry on the Eastern Shore will be the subject of a program presented on November 10th at 5:30 pm at the Oxford Community Center.
Two speakers who know the canning industry well will present: one from the production end and the other from the consumer side. They will share the history and impact of canning on the Eastern Shore and entertain with reminisces of packing untold numbers of cans for markets far and wide.
Speaking about the production end is Oxford’s Al Smith who began a career in the canning industry as a salesman with an office in Hurlock from 1958 to 1960. His success selling cans led to a 42- year long career with the Continental Can Company from which he retired as Managing Director of their European operations based in the U.K. Al will talk about the history of the industry and its impact on the economy of the Eastern Shore.
Leo Nollmeyer moved to Oxford as a teenager when his father bought a packing house which he renamed the Oxford Packing Company. Leo worked at Oxford Packing for several years before turning to a career in finance. Leo’s recollections of life in the seafood packing business will be entertaining as well as informative, especially his tales of misadventure transporting oysters and crabs to Baltimore via ferry.
Sponsored by the Oxford Museum in partnership with the Oxford Community Center, ‘Kicking the Can’ is one a series of public programs supporting the Smithsonian’s traveling exhibition ‘Crossroads’ which will be open to visitors at St. Paul’s church in Oxford from October 29 through December 16. For more information go to https://www.oxfordmusemmd.org
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