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Types of Oil Cans

Oil can collectors believe the metal and cardboard oil cans of the past have a place in Americana. The artwork and designs on these cans represented the culture of the changing American landscape---from cars to firearms. While oil cans have changed over the years due to cost of materials, invention of new containers and the changing oil industry, oil can collectors continue to search for finds in garage sales and antique stores. The three most popular types of oil cans are metal, cardboard and plastic.

Metal Cans
- A soldered seam quart can is easily identified by a gray seam along the back or side of the can. This type of can gained popularity in the early 1920s and remained the primary way of canning and transporting oil for several years. The end of World War II saw the end of the soldered seam can's use. Some aviation companies continue to use the seamed metal can for fluids, but otherwise this can's primary use remains on shelves in collectors' homes. In the 1940s, a new crimped seam can was introduced. Crimped cans eliminated the need for expensive seaming machines, without losing the functionality of the seamed can. Eliminating the seam made it easier for artwork to continue around the entire can, which made marketing and advertising more flexible for manufacturers of oil. The introduction of square and rectangle oil cans made artwork easier to display on both the front and the back of the can. Both types of metal cans used a church key, or spout, to open the cans.
Cardboard Cans
- In the 1940s, cardboard cans, also called paper quart cans, released to hold oil and mechanical fluids. Economically, the cardboard cans were cheaper to produce and market. Customers also benefited from their lower cost and a design that made opening the cardboard cans similar to opening a carton of milk. Square and round cardboards were both produced with artwork across the entire can.
Plastic Cans
- In the 1969s, the invention of plastic made it a viable method of storing, shipping and selling fluids. Some oil manufacturers converted to plastic at that time, but plastic did not take off until the 1980s. Plastic production is cheap, and storing fluids in this type of container is easy and cost-effective for the oil industry. Manufacturers made plastic cans, also called containers, in any size, from a pint to five quarts. Plastic cans use twist-off lids, which customers find quite easy to use. Unfortunately, with the introduction of plastic containers, the oil industry has foregone the artwork of the past, as most plastic oil containers today only contain the logo of the company.

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