Pringles Can Designer Dies, Buried In a Pringles Can

n3hat sends along an item from the Cincinnati Enquirer: "Dr. Fredric J. Baur was so proud of having designed the container for Pringles... that he asked his family to bury him in one. His children honored his request. Part of his remains was buried in a Pringles can — along with a regular urn containing the rest... Dr. Baur, a retired organic chemist and food storage technician who specialized in research and development and quality control for Procter & Gamble, died May 4 at 89... He developed many products, including frying oils and a freeze-dried ice cream, for P&G... But the Pringles can was his proudest accomplishment, his daughter said. He received a patent for the package as well as the method of packaging Pringles in 1970."

aha

[rakslice]

so that's what they're made out of...

Re:

[dotancohen]

so that's what they're made out of...

Didn't you know? Solyent Green is people.

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

and Solyent Plaid is Scottish people?

Re:

[kshade]

Yep. From TFA:

Fredric J. Baur was designer of P&G's Pringles container
Chemist had a hand in many products

Pringles cans suck.

[3p1ph4ny]

I can't get my hand in them to get the chips out of the bottom.

Re:Pringles cans suck.

[SoupIsGoodFood_42]

Have you tried tilting the can?

Re:Pringles cans suck.

[satoshi1]

But do you know how much work that is!?

Re:Pringles cans suck.

[radimvice]

That's the same exact logic that brought us the drinking straw.

Re:Pringles cans suck.

[zoogies]

Crumbs.

Re:Pringles cans suck.

[Opportunist]

With a bit of skill crumbs are no problem. There is a little "hump" at the top of a Pringles can which can deal with crumbs fairly well. And if everything fails, there's still the option to hold your hand under the can to collect them. Gravity is your friend.

Well, unless you eat too many...

Re:

[phozz bare]

Ah, but you can also use the lid as a plate for collecting crumbs if you don't want your palms to get all greasy.

Re:

[TitusC3v5]

I feel your pain. I too have problems with my hands swelling after excessive amounts of masterbation.

Re:Pringles cans suck.

[glitch23]

I too have problems with my hands swelling after excessive amounts of masterbation.

Obviously. It seems to affect your typing.

Re:

[TitusC3v5]

Sorry, hands were still sticky at the time.

Re:

[ozmanjusri]

Sorry, hands were still sticky at the time.

Might help you get those chips out of the bottom of the can.

Good for crumb collection too, if you lick your fingers.

Re:

[aliquis]

Now of to google "build your own masturbation device pringles can."

Re:

[phagstrom]

That's the smart bit. If your hand is too big to fit in the Pringles can, you should stop eating them. The Pringles Diet....maybe I should write a book or something.

Re:Pringles cans suck.

[ABasketOfPups]

"If your hand is too big to fit in the Pringles can, you should stop eating them. "

Yes, for heaven's sake, stop eating your hands.

Re:

[drsquare]

If your hand is small enough to fit into a Pringles can, then you must be a midget.

Re:

[naz404]

No way man!!!

Pringles cans rule!!!

They make excellent cheap Darth Vader voice modulators!

Try speaking into an empty one with your best James Earl Jones impression to do a Darth Vader.

Makes for an excellent party trick ;)

Hmmm... I wonder what flavoer Dr. Baur was buried in...

Re:Pringles cans suck.

[Ethan Allison]

Soylent Green flavor... get with the meme here

He was cremated:

[Tezcat]

BBQ flavour.

Re:

[Mateo_LeFou]

"Makes for an excellent party trick ;)"

I just remembered: I'm not going to be able to make it to that one party you invited me to the other day. I've got a previous um engagement that I just remembered

Re:Pringles cans suck.

[bumby]

If only the can was designed to have a lid at the bottom as well...

Re:Pringles cans suck.

[Anonymous Coward]

"The self regulating nature of Pringles - if your hand can't fit in the tube anymore, you probably shouldn't be eating them anyway."

Popped

[theurge14]

Once you croak, you must stop.

Re:

[Wowsers]

He couldn't stop, so he popped.

one advantage

[nerdonamotorcycle]

At least he'll be able to get good wi-fi.

Re:one advantage

[StarfishOne]

This isn't a "cantenna"! This is a "cancasket" :O

Re:

[StarfishOne]

Oh, forgive me Lords of Pun and Wordplay, but with seeing the username "doyoulikeworms (1094003)" being" listed above... I just wonder if I just opened up a "can of worms"? :O

Ok, on a more serious note: thank you for the design Mr. Baur!

Not to be confused with ...

[DrJimbo]

... Com-casket. Or Can-comstic.

Re:

[AikonMGB]

Too bad he wasn't an evil mastermind, then we could say that he was "going to Hell in cancasket."

Re:

[3seas]

The first thing I thought, without reading the article,was what did he die of? Focused Wifi beams?

Re:

[StarfishOne]

Hmm.. like the Undernet IRC network?

(Sorry, sorry for my replies.. despite its seriousness, this new item just has too many options for playful comments.)

The important question is...

[Rakshasa Taisab]

What flavor of Pringles?

Re:

[TitusC3v5]

Original, of course.

Re:

[lena_10326]

Original, of course.

He was cremated.. so I'd say BBQ.

Re:

[NeuroManson]

To paraphrase Monty Python's Albatross sketch, "What blooming flavor? He's bloody dead bloody corpse bloody flavor!".

It could have been worse

[nobodyman]

He developed many products, including frying oils and a freeze-dried ice cream, for P&G... But the Pringles can was his proudest accomplishment...

Let's just be thankful he was so proud of the pringles can. I'm uncomfortable with the thought of him being freeze-dried or, even worse, fried.

Re:It could have been worse

[vidarh]

You wouldn't like this [boingboing.net] then. A Swedish company is offering freeze drying of corpses as a more environmentally friendly alternative to cremation.

Re:It could have been worse

[blackest_k]

well if you really want to know, essentially pringles are reconstituted potato similar to instant mash. If I remember right its mainly dried potato powder and oil. A dough is made up which gets squeezed to the right thickness on a belt and then a roller cookie cuts the pringles out and the unused dough goes back into the hopper and is rolled out again. they are then fried, flavor added, and canned.

The recipe is all important since it controls both the flavor and the curve of the pringles. A big problem is that if they curve too much then you cant fit enough in a can (the machine couldn't handle bigger cans) and if the recipe was adjusted to make them flatter then the product tastes like cardboard.

It was a pretty cool machine to see in action.

things like quavers and wotsits are fried potato starch, without flavor they are like chewing on packing beads.

and finally low fat crisps are identical to regular crisps in every way right up to the flavor station where a lower fat flavor is added.

Re:It could have been worse

[Gordonjcp]

things like quavers and wotsits are fried potato starch, without flavor they are like chewing on packing beads.

You actually get corn and potato starch packing peanuts. Why vermin don't eat them during shipping I don't know - you'd think it would be a perfect growth medium for insects. The cats love them though - "Oh hai, you haz a new gearbox? I help you unpack it then! NOM NOM NOM"

Once you pop, you can't stop

[wilsoniya]

...until you drop (dead).

Re:Once you pop, you can't stop

[Anonymous Coward]

I always wondered why the tube were resealable if you can't stop, there shouldn't be any need really.

It was a good design...

[lpangelrob]

...much better than the ubiquitous aluminum foil bag that chips now come in, which is 50 to 70% air (by design, so the chips don't smash each other in transit).

That said, my hands are large enough that I usually can't reach the bottom 20% of the can. If they widened the Pringles can design so that my hands could reach the lingering chips on the bottom, that'd make my decade.

Re:It was a good design...

[B3ryllium]

Ah, so you're suggesting that they need to adjust for inflation ... of the American population. :)

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah 75% gas, not "air". It's nitrogen in the can before you tear the seal, they stay frsh forever.

Re:It was a good design...

[MichaelSmith]

they stay frsh forever.

Typing with your mouth full?

Re:

[TubeSteak]

That said, my hands are large enough that I usually can't reach the bottom 20% of the can. If they widened the Pringles can design so that my hands could reach the lingering chips on the bottom, that'd make my decade.

There was no innovation or competition in the field of pringles-shaped cans for chips for the longest time, since they had a patent on the concept.

That included triangular, square, rectangular, etc shaped cans.
It's only recently that anyone other than Proctor and Gamble was able to stack chips in a can.

Re:

[Plutonite]

Please see comment further up in the thread, in which poster suggests tilting the can.

Re:

[Fumus]

Interestingly, a very similar idea is used to trap monkeys without harming them. They put a long hollow tube attached to the ground and put some food in it. The monkeys put their hand in there and once they grab the food they can't squeeze their fist back through the tube. Most of the time they won't let go of the food, thus keeping themselves trapped.

Re:

[Vectronic]

The can is definitly a better use of space.

But the bag, uses about the same amount of plastic as the cap of a pringles can, so there is much less waste, and is cheaper to produce.

Although the can can be used again, it rarely is, especially by people who eat Pringles often.

Re:

[Joe Jay Bee]

That said, my hands are large enough that I usually can't reach the bottom 20% of the can.

That's by design, as a sort of dosing mechanism. The idea is if you can't fit your hand in the can, you've had enough Pringles.

Re:It was good Marketing

[blackest_k]

it's not really that good a design to be honest. For a start the packaging is a lot more expensive as is the machinery to pack it. The cans have to be shipped to the factory to be filled and obviously its quite a complex assembly.

Compare this to the conventional bag plastic or aluminium its basically just a roll of film. The bag is formed as it is filled, as one is sealed it forms the bottom of the next packet in fact crisps are falling before there is actually a bag for them to go in. It's extremely fast a

Pringle's Can? Boring!

[elnico]

You should have seen what Felix Klein was buried in [wikipedia.org].

Re:Pringle's Can? Boring!

[sam_v1.35b]

From wikipedia: a certain non-orientable surface, i.e., a surface ... with no distinct "inner" and "outer" sides So, technically, he wasn't buried *in* it :)

Re:Pringle's Can? Boring!

[MagdJTK]

I don't know why people can't just stick to the simple. Use a box, like Erwin Schrödinger used!

Re:

[martin-boundary]

They actually had to duct tape him on it, as he kept falling out.

Environmental Impact

[bazald]

I remember visiting a recycling center when I was in elementary school. One particular item that they picked on as being very difficult to recycle was the Pringles can. A bizarre combination of metal, cardboard, and plastic, it is almost impossible for them to get the components apart.

So, no thanks for failing to consider the environmental impact of your design.

Re:

[owlnation]

So, no thanks for failing to consider the environmental impact of your design.

That's unfair. The Pringles can is robust enough to be used for many other purposes. Who says you need to throw it away? Just because unthinking Joe Sixpack decides to throw something out doesn't make it the fault of the designer.

Re:

[Scruffy Dan]

Actually it does. Designers should realize what the general public (aka: unthinking Joe Sixpack) will do with their products, not what some idealized consumer will do. Also while I don't eat that many pringles (no more than 5 cans a year at most) I can't figure out what to so with that many cans.

Re:

[Gryle]

Clean 'em out and use 'em to store other foods.

Re:

[NeuroManson]

Yeah, I recall something along those lines, building a long range wi-fi antenna with a Pringles can, right?

Re:

[bloodninja]

Just because unthinking Joe Sixpack decides to throw something out doesn't make it the fault of the designer.

Actually, it does. The designer should be aware that the product will continue to exist even after it's intended purpose is fulfilled. But according to TFS the Pringles can was designed in 19fucking70. Nobody was thinking about recycling back then. The irresponsibility of the current design lays with Pringles, who have not changed the almost-40 year old design in light of current knowledge.

Re: thinking about recycling back then

[zmollusc]

Now listen here, sonny. Both 'Stig of the dump' and 'The Wombles' predate 19fucking70, as do I. Now get OFF my DAMN lawn and get a haircut.

Re:

[1u3hr]

So, no thanks for failing to consider the environmental impact of your design.

I think the health impact of a "food" consisting of fat, starch, salt and chemical flavourings was probably worse.

Re:

[1u3hr]

I think that overshoots the point a bit

What point was that? The product is completey unnecessary and negative in impact. It harms the consumer's (in the most literal way) health, and the package being celebrated harms the environment. There isn't one good thing about this. (Sure, you can make a wifi antenna out of the can. That will use about .001% of them.)

Yet the inventors are being congratulated for this product that contributes to the prematire deaths of thousands every year.

Re:

[evilviper]

One particular item that they picked on as being very difficult to recycle was the Pringles can. A bizarre combination of metal, cardboard, and plastic, it is almost impossible for them to get the components apart.

It's pretty unfair to single out Pringles, when juice boxes have the exact same drawbacks. Besides, it's not like traditional potato chip bags are exactly a joy for recyclers...

Not to mention that "recyclable" isn't the be-all, end-all. If some form of packaging is effective enough, it can be co

Re:

[Ethan Allison]

When were you in elementary school? 10 years ago? 20? 3?

Re:Environmental Impact

[khallow]

Recycling is the classic example of why just because you can do something doesn't mean that you should do it. Even if one ignores the difficulties of seperating the components of a Pringle's can, I doubt there's anything in a Pringle's can that is worth recycling now much less then. Nor do I see the point to making the can out of something more recyclable. More goods are wasted with shoddy packaging. More time is wasted when people have to sort trash so that some money-losing recycling center can pretend to save the environment and landfill space.

Re:

[Jeff DeMaagd]

You say that as if inexpensively protecting food and package recycling are mutually exclusive ideals.

Re:

[Valacosa]

It's why I feel guilty buying Pringles here. The recycling guys won't even pick the cans up.

Re:

[Eudial]

I remember visiting a recycling center when I was in elementary school. One particular item that they picked on as being very difficult to recycle was the Pringles can. A bizarre combination of metal, cardboard, and plastic, it is almost impossible for them to get the components apart.

So, no thanks for failing to consider the environmental impact of your design.

Dude! It was invented in the 1970s! Thinking of the environment wasn't invented back then!

Someone had to say it...

[Anonymous Coward]

"I think Pringles' initial intention was to make tennis balls. But on the day that the rubber was supposed to show up, a big truckload of potatoes arrived. But Pringles was a laid-back company. They said "Fuck it. Cut 'em up."

-Mitch Hedberg

Re:

[jez9999]

They don't cut the potatoes up. They mash them and then make the Pringles out of that. :-P

Re:

[Albert Sandberg]

Did you hear that? That was the joke running by your head :-)

Brazier

[Tablizer]

So that guy who invented the bra...

Steve Jobs in a Mac?

Bill Gates squashed into a floppy? He'll at least be "micro" and "soft".

Re:Brazier

[Opportunist]

You miss the important thing. He'll at least be dead.

Ok, that was uncalled for. I'd already be happy if his company died.

Re:

[_Shad0w_]

Given the 9th circle of hell is for traitors, I'm wondering who you think he's betrayed. Although I guess being frozen in a block of ice is kind of appropriate punishment for all those frozen Windows systems.

Re:Brazier

[servognome]

Linus Torvalds in an open casket so you can dig through the source

Re:Brazier

[Tablizer]

Linus Torvalds in an open casket so you can dig through the source

But SCO claims an arm and a leg.
     

Re:

[Vectronic]

Actually, thats a curious thought, I wonder what the ratio is between proprietary coders, and open source coders donating their body/organs for science/medical uses.

Re:

[onefriedrice]

Better than Ballmer who will be cremated, mixed with lacquer, and applied to a chair.

Re:

[bhtooefr]

Holy crap, he just discovered a perpetual motion machine!

That makes two! (The first being buttered toast on the back of a cat, of course. :P)

Re:Brazier

[ELTaNiN]

Bill Gates' tomb will have windows so you can see the bugs inside...

Tags

[taupin]

> humor, death
I don't know whether to laugh or cry!

Re:

[extrasolar]

Why? I want a humor death!

Re:

[owlstead]

Try laughing until you cry :)

Re:

[FurtiveGlancer]

It's my goal to die laughing, just not today.

Potential mistake

[Tablizer]

Grave Digger A: "Dude, all this digging is making me hungry. Let's hurry up so we can catch a sandwich or something."

Digger B: "Hey, whatta coincidence. I just found a can of Pringles down here. Here ya go."

Digger A: "Bleck, they're stale and crumbled. Hey, do you still have that Twinkie we found last week?"

Digger B: "Yes, but I do have doubts that its really a Twinkie."

Digger A: "You worry too much; hand it over."
     

What is so special about it?

[Fross]

The Pringles can never struck me as particularly good design - chips would still smash at the bottom, it was just a tube, and you can't even get your hand in to the bottom like a regular bag of chips, you need to tilt it and shower yourself in crumbs.

Anyone mind giving some information on why it was supposedly so revolutionary and he would be so proud of it?

Re:

[Chapter80]

My mom was on the consumer test panel for Pringles before the product came out. So we got white ("generic") cans labeled "A" and "B" (or something like that) full of different Pringle mixes.

She served them at a party as part of the test (logging people's feedback), and EVERYONE was blown away by this new, unconventional chip! It was like nothing anyone had ever seen before. (these were the days of "space age" products like "Tang".)

Not that a cylinder can is particularly a good design. I think the c

ogligatory

[jollyreaper]

Cardiologist's Funeral

A cardiologist died and was given an elaborate funeral attended by fellow physicians, family members, friends.... A huge heart covered in flowers stood behind the casket during the service. Following the eulogy, the heart opened, and the casket rolled inside. The heart then closed, sealing the doctor in the beautiful heart forever.

At that point, one of the mourners burst into laughter. When all eyes stared at him, he said, "I'm sorry, I was just thinking of my own funeral ....I'm a gynecologist."

That's when the proctologist fainted.

Wait a minute...

[Cow Jones]

Part of his remains was buried in a Pringles can - along with a regular urn containing the rest...

So... which part did they put into the Pringles can?
I shudder to think.

Smuggling beer in a Pringles Can

[istartedi]

True story. Parents weekend, 1987. Beer drinking in one room, parents in suite. Beer in fridge of other room. Turns out, two 12-oz cans fit perfectly in one empty Pringles can. Play it cool while walking across suite, hope nobody wants Pringles. It worked.

Re:

[Tablizer]

Do you "first post" trolls want to be buried in the first lot in the cemetery? You have to be the first dead, I hate to tell ya.

Re:FP

[Tony Hoyle]

It took that long to chop him up into little pringle shaped slices.

Re:

[MichaelSmith]

The suspense is killing me.

Re:

[satoshi1]

Cardboard flavor.

Re:

[aliquis]

But I'd like a product which suck.

Look at the Tenga Super Sucking, there you have a "can" which really suck:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7vUUv7kzWU [youtube.com] (Some idiot have moderated it not suitable for minors so the link won't work unless you can login or embed it somewhere.)

The product are only supposed to be used one time though, may be ok for the average Slashdoter since it's still a huge improvement, but for most men it won't cut it. Tenga do have other men covered with the flip hole instead:
http://www.yout [youtube.com]