The story
Founded by William Painter in 1892.1
William Painter, a Quaker from Maryland, invented the metal disposable bottle cap ("crown cork") for bottled carbonated beverages in 1891 and obtained patents on February 2, 1892. He founded his own manufacturing company, the Crown Cork and Seal Company, in Baltimore and sold bottlers that his cap was the right one in a crowded field of contraptions. By 1898, he had created a foot-powered crowner device to sell to bottlers and retailers so that they could seal the bottles with his caps quickly and easily. This helped gain acceptance of his bottle caps. By 1906, Crown had opened manufacturing plants in Brazil, France, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom.
By the 1930s, Crown was selling half of the world's supply of bottle caps. Crown entered the tin can business in 1936 with the purchase of the Acme Can Company of Philadelphia, which led to the creation of the Crowntainer, a funnel-shaped beer can, the following year.
To address market changes after World War I and Prohibition, Crown focused heavily on soft drinks. During World War II, Crown produced war products such as the Kork-N-Seal, the Pour-N-Seal, and the Merit Seal, as well as gas mask canisters. In 1957, John Connelly took over the presidency which was facing insolvency and moved the headquarters from Baltimore to Philadelphia. In 2003, Crown restructured as a public holding company. In 2005 and 2006 Crown exited the plastics industry with the sale of its Global Plastic Closure and its cosmetics packaging businesses.
In August 2023, it was announced Crown had acquired Helvetia Packaging - a beverage can manufacturing facility in Saarlouis, Germany.
From Wikipedia’s article on Crown Holdings, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.8