Western Can Company
| Main Location |
San Francisco |
|---|
The Western Can Company was an San Francisco-based can manufacturer known for lithographed cans, and large coffee cans.According to a history of the San Francisco coffee roaster MJB, Western Can was originally called West Coast Metal Works, and was purchased by MJB in 1916 and had its name changed to Western Can at that time. Although owned by a coffee roaster, the company sold cans to competitors in the industry, and did not stress its connections to the roaster[1]. The company was eventually bought by the Continental Can Company.
The company's factory in San Francisco was built in 1927 at the corner of 17th and Rhode Island St. [2]"Constructed in 1927 by architect Leland S. Rosener and noted industrial builders, MacDonald and Kahn, 444 De Haro Street (also addressed as 1849 17th Street and formerly known as Western Can Co.) is a three‐story, reinforced concrete industrial building with a saw‐tooth roof and industrial steel‐sash windows. The main entrances are located off of De Haro Street and Rhode Island Street, and provide access to an interior atrium. Originally, the subject building was two separate industrial buildings that were combined in 1984‐1985, and converted into showroom and office use. Currently, the building possesses approximately 140,000 sq ft, which includes approximately 24,000 sq ft of parking space. Also located on the subject lot is a two‐story, wood‐frame building located at the northeast corner of De Haro and Mariposa Streets....".
The company had a can factory in the Japantown area of San Jose. The plant is now the Gordon Biersch brewery[3].
In 1954, the general manager was Eugene Mignacco, who had worked his way up the ranks to management[4]."Western Can Company made MJB's coffee cans and MJB owned Western Can Company.... My father was able to become a director in the Western Can Company.... He just went right up [from the bottom] and soon he became an executive... stood up to someone and the boss was impressed, so he gave him a chance. He really worked his way up from the bottom, I want to say he was the janitor... he didn't know anything of course he could type, but he didn't know anything about short hand. My father worked during the day and took night classes to learn. He was self taught."[5]
Locations
| Location | Years | Address | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Francisco | 1923 | 180 Townsend St. | MJB office[6][7] |
| San Francisco | 1941[8], 1960 | 1848 17th St. at Rhode Island St.[9] | factory |
| San Francisco | 1927- | 1849 17th St. | |
| San Jose | 357 Taylor Street |
References
- ↑ John Garner, Comment on blog post about MJB advertisements. "Can’t answer your question, but I worked briefly for MJB in San Francisco the early 1970s. While there, I learned that Western Can was a “secret” subsidiary of MJB. Why? Well, the majority of Western Can’s business was making and printing coffee cans, which they sold not only to MJB, but also to Hills Brothers, Folger’s, Mannings, Safeway, S&W, and a fair number of others. MJB was afraid that their coffee roasting, grinding, and packing competitors would quit buying cans from Western Can if they knew that MJB owned Wescan. My own souvenir from then is a 20 pound MJB can — almost, if not exactly, the same size and shape as a 5 gallon kerosene can — that was scratched before it was filled. From Western Can, of course.
- ↑ San Francisco Planning Department, Request for review and comment, 444 De Haro St..
- ↑ EIR for redevelopment
- ↑ Annual meeting of Red Cross. Wednesday, December 29, 1954 San Mateo Times. Mignacco is listed as general manager of Western Can.
- ↑ Family history of Eugene Mignacco, Stacey Anne Beerman Trumble."
- ↑ Advertisement. March 1923 Western Canner and Packer.
- ↑ Description of 180 Townsend St. In Rand Richards, Historic Walks in San Francisco: 18 Trails through the City's Past. "Completed just before the 1906 earthquake... the third story was added in 1921. The building's first tenant was the California Wine Association. Later, the MJB Coffee Company used it."
- ↑ Community Food Preservation Centers. U.S. Department of Agriculture Bureau of Home Economics, Miscellaneous Publication No. 472, 1941.
- ↑ Jeff S. Asay, Track and Time: An Operational History of the Western Pacific Railroad Through Timetables and Maps. Feather River Rail Society, 2006. Western Can shows up in a 1960 WP training manual map identifying industry spurs.