I’ve decided to post this here in MPSIMS because while I want a credible answer, I’m not sure if my rambling post is proper to GQ. Mods, feel free to move where appropriate…
I’ve got this terrible cold. It’s not the flu exactly, just a nasty head/chest cold.
I’m on the Nyquil/Soup/Sleep regime, so it’s making me a little loopy.
This morning I decided to grab a soda from the fridge and lo-and-behold there was actually one left! There was that six pack plastic thingy still attached to the lone Coke, and in my state of boredom I asked myself:
“I wonder who invented this handy packaging item? And by the way…what is the darn thing called anyway?
Who can I call to order, let us say, 10,000 of these ‘six pack plastic thingies’. Would they put me on hold while they went about laughing hysterically?”
So can anybody fight my ignorance? I can’t Google the history of the six pack plastic thingy if I don’t know what the six pack plastic thingy’s proper name is.
If I have that, then maybe I can find the inventor(s).
[I know what you all are thinking, but suffering from a cold has caused me to have too much time on my hands.]
Thanks! I’m still sifting through those SER’s, and still getting mostly wildlife dangers and recycling stuff.
Grrr. This is gonna keep me awake tonight, I know it.
Maybe I should call the local brewers/distributors here and just ask to speak to someone who knows the proper name for it.
I’m on a Quest For Knowledge now! [Insert Homer donut joke here].
Yes, it did help. Their website refers to them as Six Pack Rings. What a great find, thank you.
What I’m really looking for is the history* of these things, since they have been around for ever in these parts.
By the way, I’ve called the local Anheuser-Busch brewery, the local Dr. Pepper distributor, and the largest beverage distributor in town. They didn’t have a clue either.
…of course it was probably a strange question to begin with.
I blame it on the NyQuil medicine, not the chicken soup.
OMG. The drama here over what’s considered trash today. What a great find.
However, it appears the six pack plastic thingy was already in use, just that Cunningham figured out a cheaper way of producing one. Very interesting story.
I didn’t know all that, but I do know… If you hang one of them from a tree and light it, it melts slowly and little molten fireballs make a cool whiiiiizzzzz sound as they fall. Great at night.
A “6-Pack concession trailer”? Where do you get that as the name for the plastic thingy? I’m no expert, but it looks like a concession trailer is something you serve food out of, maybe with sinks or compartments.
Googling for the obvious terms only leads back to this thread. Nothing like self-reverence to prove a point.
Maybe they were called something else in 2006, but this link suggests they are merely “plastic 6-pack rings,” made of a polymer. You can buy 4000 for $140 here:
The things are also called rim-applied multipacks. They were developed by a company called Hi-Cone, which is now part of ITW. Illinois Tool Works is one of those corporations that you’ve probably never heard of that are absurdly diversified and their products are literally everywhere.
From Hi-Cone’s history page, they say “1961: After years of development, the first commercial use of the Hi-Cone 6-pack ring carrier began at Anheuser-Busch.”
I don’t know if the historians at ITW or Hi-Cone would be able to identify a specific person who conceptualized, developed and brought the ring carrier to life. With that description of “years of development” it sounds like many people were involved.
