Inventor William Painter patents the 'crown cork' and starts the Crown Cork & Seal Company of Baltimore.
Painter introduces the first foot-powered syruper-crowner, allowing a good operator to fill and cap 24 bottles a minute.
1906 – Early Expansion
By the time Painter dies in 1906, Crown has greatly expanded its manufacturing base to include Europe, South America and Asia Pacific.
1919 – World War I
In the face of Prohibition, Crown begins shifting production from beer to soft drinks.
1927 – New Impetus
Charles McManus, who patented Nepro Cork, a substitute for natural cork, merges the New Process Cork Company into Crown Cork & Seal Company, Inc. Net sales reach $11 million.
1930 – New Speeds
Crown introduces high-speed, 3-piece bodymaking, revolutionizing the canmaking process.
1936 – Moving into Tin Cans
Crown acquires the Acme Can Company of Philadelphia and enters the tin can business.
1937 – The Crowntainer
Crown perfects the electrolytic tin plating process and introduces the Crowntainer, a 2-piece necked-in steel can sealed with a crown.
1941 to 1945 – The Tin Can Goes to War
Crown shifts its production to war products and receives a government citation for the development of a gas mask canister. Crown also introduces the Kork-N-Seal, the Pour-N-Seal and the Merit Seal.
1952 – Spra-tainer
Crown introduces the Spra-tainer, a lightweight, two-piece aerosol can for the food, personal care, household and insecticide markets.
1957 – Turnaround
During difficult times, John Connelly takes over the presidency at Crown and pares down the organization, implementing stringent economies that help the company to recover.
1958 – New Headquarters
Crown moves its corporate headquarters from Baltimore to Philadelphia.
1960 – From Beer to Soft Drinks
Crown starts designing equipment specifically to meet the needs of soft drink producers and gains considerable market share in the United States.
1968 – New Closure
Crown develops the first all-plastic closure for carbonated soft drinks.
1969 – Steel Beverage Cans
Crown introduces the Drawn-N-Ironed, a two-piece steel alternative to the aluminum can, which rapidly becomes a hit product
1970s – Financial Strength
Connelly focuses on international growth and repurchases preferred and common stock; earnings per share grow above industry averages.
1970 – Audible Safety
Crown debuts metal vacuum closures featuring a safety button that provides an audible indication of pack safety.
1976 – Flame Curing
Crown develops a patented flame-curing process that cures can coatings by direct flame impingement in less than one second.
1977 – Foreign Expansion
Crown becomes one of the world’s leading producers of cans and crowns overseas, operating 60 foreign plants. Net sales reach $1 billion.
1980 – New Innovations
Crown uses compartmentalized packages, such as piston and bag-in-can, to extend its range of aerosol applications. New full-aperture easy-open ends provide simplified opening and exceptional abuse resistance. Crown also introduces spin-necking, allowing for the production of lighter weight containers.
1982 – High Impact Decoration
Crown introduces reprotherm, a patented sublimation-dye-transfer process for photographic quality decoration, for beverage cans.
1984 – STEP & Petainer
Crown introduces PET/metal containers for food and beverage products.
1985 – New Processes
Crown develops the external base profile reforming process to allow lighter base weight metal to be used on aluminum beverage cans while controlling buckle and growth.
1986 – EOLE™
Crown launches the EOLE™ brand of full-aperture easy-open ends, optimizing the convenience packaging.
1988 – OXBAR
Crown develops oxygen scavenger technology (OXBAR) for use in PET containers to prolong the shelf life of sensitive products like beer.
1989 – Acquisition Mode
Crown begins a series of acquisitions, increasing sales from $1.9 billion in 1989 to over $8 billion by 1997.
1990 – Consolidation Begins
Crown acquires major portions of former industry leader Continental Can Company and becomes the North American packaging leader. The company introduces a new blowforming process to increase the shelf differentiation and brand recognition of containers. Meanwhile, new PT Plus closures debut that provide greater tamper evidence and Crown launches its Ideal Closure® – a polymer/metal hybrid that significantly reduces opening forces.
1992 – Getting into Plastics
Crown acquires CONSTAR International, a world leader in PET plastic containers for the beverage, food and household markets.
1996 – Creating a World Packaging Leader
Crown acquires CarnaudMetalbox, Europe's leading manufacturer of metal and plastic packaging, and becomes the world's packaging leader.
1996 – New Digs
Crown’s global headquarters opens at a new location in Philadelphia.
2000 – Introducing SuperEnd®
Crown unveils the revolutionary SuperEnd® beverage end technology. In addition, integrated weld monitoring is produced to improve the efficiency and quality of 3-piece canmaking.
2001 – PealSeam™
Crown’s new PeelSeam™ peelable ends enhance the openability of food products.
2002 – CONSTAR IPO
Crown completes the sale of 89.5% of its shares in CONSTAR through an Initial Public Offering. The company also introduces bowl-shaped cans for a wide range of food applications including salads and desserts.
2003 – Refinancing
Crown completes a $3.2 billion refinancing plan and forms Crown Holdings, Inc. as a new public holding company.
2004 – High Spirits
Crown introduces injection-molded corks for spirits products.
2005-6 – Trimming Assets
Crown sells its Global Plastic Closures and Cosmetics Packaging businesses. The company also introduces easy-open metal paint cans.
2007 – EasyLift®
Crown sets a new standard in convenience packaging with the debut of its Easylift® easy-open ends. The company also introduces shaped food cans for every day luxury goods such as soup and coffee. In the beverage world, Crown unveils its Pictoris™ high quality print solution for use on aluminum cans.
2008 – EarthSafe™ Dispensing System
Crown introduces the EarthSafe™ Dispensing System, an innovative and environmentally-responsible package that replaces hydrocarbons with compressed air as the propellant.
2010 – The 360 End®
Crown launches the 360 End® for the 2010 FIFA World Cup tournament – the entire lid can be removed, turning the can itself into a drinking cup. This marks the first of many applications of this technology around the world.
2011 – Leading the Way in Sustainability
Crown publishes its inaugural Sustainability Report based upon fiscal years 2007 through 2010.
2011 – New Technologies
Crown unveils the new Orbit® Closure, a revolutionary closure that is twice as easy to open as standard twist-off caps, and HoloCrown™, a unique holographic foil technology.
2013 – Global Vent™
Crown introduces Global Vent™, a dual aperture beverage end that offers a smoother pour and an enhanced experience for consumers.
2014 – A Time of Growth
Crown purchases Mivisa Envases, SAU and enters into an agreement to acquire EMPAQUE, significantly enhancing the company’s strategic position regionally and globally.
