# Smallest metal can still used for retail? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 4, 2017, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smallest-metal-can-still-used-for-retail/800717 "2017-11-04T22:00:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2017, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smallest-metal-can-still-used-for-retail/800717/1 "2017-11-04T22:00:04Z")
I’m curious: what is the smallest metal can that’s in current use to package and ship some kind of good? (That is usually food such as vegetables e.g. canned corn, but I suppose non food items are occasionally sold in metal containers as well, like shaving cream.) Smallest can mean volume held, it can mean a specific dimension (behold ladies and gentlemen, the World’s Shortest Can Of Soup) or I guess you might possibly have have some other definitions. tip-tapping away by phone, but why would you care? ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2017, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smallest-metal-can-still-used-for-retail/800717/2 "2017-11-04T22:13:21Z")
Well, we can start with anchovy cans, although I’m sure there’s something smaller I’m not thinking of off the top of my head. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2017, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smallest-metal-can-still-used-for-retail/800717/3 "2017-11-04T22:17:46Z")
Breathe mints ? ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2017, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smallest-metal-can-still-used-for-retail/800717/4 "2017-11-04T22:17:50Z")
OK, next immediate thought - “Burt’s Bees” lip balm: [https://cdn.makeupandbeauty.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/burt\_\_bees\_beeswax\_lip\_balm\_\_1\_.jpg](https://cdn.makeupandbeauty.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/burt __bees_beeswax_lip_balm__ 1_.jpg) I’m still sure there’s smaller. Cosmetic products might be a good place to look. ---
**Author:** ![Mrdeals](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ea666f/32.png) [@Mrdeals](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrdeals)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2017, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smallest-metal-can-still-used-for-retail/800717/5 "2017-11-04T22:46:17Z")
Altoids make a really small $0.69 (?) tin. I was at a specialty grocery that had some black caviar in tiny tins. ---
**Author:** ![Lasciel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e79b87/32.png) [@Lasciel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lasciel)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2017, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smallest-metal-can-still-used-for-retail/800717/6 "2017-11-04T23:06:37Z")
the smallest ones i’ve found for general sale are 1/4 oz tins with press-on lids (not screw-top). ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2017, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smallest-metal-can-still-used-for-retail/800717/7 "2017-11-04T23:32:38Z")
> [@yabob](#): > > OK, next immediate thought - “Burt’s Bees” lip balm: > > [https://cdn.makeupandbeauty.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/burt\_\_bees\_beeswax\_lip\_balm\_\_1\_.jpg](https://cdn.makeupandbeauty.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/burt __bees_beeswax_lip_balm__ 1_.jpg) > > I’m still sure there’s smaller. Cosmetic products might be a good place to look. Some brands of solder paste (flux) come in tiny cans. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2017, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smallest-metal-can-still-used-for-retail/800717/8 "2017-11-05T00:02:18Z")
In the camping dept. or a BassPro shop you can get a very small metal can to hold matches. Remember the very small hinged tins Bayer aspirin used to come in? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2017, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smallest-metal-can-still-used-for-retail/800717/9 "2017-11-05T01:57:07Z")
I’m not sure a tin is quite precisely the same thing as a can, though. When I think of a can, I think of something hermetically sealed, which can only be opened by cutting it open or otherwise damaging it, not something resealable and which is tight but not perfectly airtight. ---
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2017, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smallest-metal-can-still-used-for-retail/800717/10 "2017-11-05T02:15:34Z")
> [@Mrdeals](#): > > I was at a specialty grocery that had some black caviar in tiny tins. These are the smallest cans I have seen (of something sold commercially). I have seen tins as small as 1oz and supposedly there are also 0.5oz versions. ---
**Author:** ![Dobbs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Dobbs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dobbs)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2017, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smallest-metal-can-still-used-for-retail/800717/11 "2017-11-05T04:09:49Z")
Back in the day, 35mm film came in screw top metal cans, I’d doubt they would hold 3/4 of an ounce. That were the same size as the plastic ones that replaced them, or close enough so as to make no difference. ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2017, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smallest-metal-can-still-used-for-retail/800717/12 "2017-11-05T05:31:20Z")
The smallest tins I have recently seen are the automobile fuse assortments. Most are plastic today, but i have seen the ones with a metal body and a sliding plastic lid within the past few years. > **[19 Lot vintage FUSE TIN Box Auto Parts Advertising Ford, Acme, Killark](https://www.popscreen.com/prod/MTU1MTUxNTA2/19-Lot-vintage-FUSE-TIN-Box-Auto-Parts-Advertising-Ford-Acme-Killark-)** > > Visit for great deals on a huge selection atlas auto parts. Shop Dennis ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2017, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smallest-metal-can-still-used-for-retail/800717/13 "2017-11-05T12:32:48Z")
The smallest can I’ve seen that _required a can opener to open it_ contained a one milliliter vial of tetrodotoxin (TTX). We used TTX in a neurophysiology lab. The vial was in a tiny can, which was inside a slightly larger can, which was inside a Tyvek envelope, which was in a well-taped box, which was in the shipping box. Every time we received TTX, my boss would ask, “What come in small cans?” and tetrodotoxin was one of the answers. pedophiles was the other answer The times were different. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2017, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smallest-metal-can-still-used-for-retail/800717/14 "2017-11-05T12:51:56Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > The smallest can I’ve seen that _required a can opener to open it_ contained a one milliliter vial of tetrodotoxin (TTX). > > We used TTX in a neurophysiology lab. The vial was in a tiny can, which was inside a slightly larger can, which was inside a Tyvek envelope, which was in a well-taped box, which was in the shipping box. > > Every time we received TTX, my boss would ask, “What come in small cans?” and tetrodotoxin was one of the answers. pedophiles was the other answer The times were different. I’d love to see that can. Did it require a special teeny-tiny can opener? tip-tapping away by phone, but why would you care? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2017, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smallest-metal-can-still-used-for-retail/800717/15 "2017-11-05T13:12:33Z")
> [@Dobbs](#): > > Back in the day, 35mm film came in screw top metal cans, I’d doubt they would hold 3/4 of an ounce. That were the same size as the plastic ones that replaced them, or close enough so as to make no difference. Some films at least must have been sold in metal canisters in Japan more recently–a friend in Tokyo mailed me something in one of them. The top doesn’t screw on, just fitted tightly into place. It is printed with the Agfa or Fujifilm (can’t remember which) logo and color scheme and [doesn’t exactly match any I’m seeing on Google Images](https://www.google.com/search?biw=1056&bih=518&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=rwz_WaDhEsS6jwO5mbLADw&q=metal+35mm+film+canister+japan&oq=metal+35mm+film+canister+japan&gs_l=psy-ab.3...38146.39860.0.40414.5.5.0.0.0.0.836.836.6-1.1.0....0...1.1.64.psy-ab..4.0.0....0.MlpDkTnsqY4). ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2017, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smallest-metal-can-still-used-for-retail/800717/16 "2017-11-05T13:22:10Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > I’d love to see that can. Did it require a special teeny-tiny can opener? No special opener. We had a half dozen army-surplus [P-38 can openers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P-38_can_opener) in the lab, but that was just because someone liked them and bought a box-full. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2017, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smallest-metal-can-still-used-for-retail/800717/17 "2017-11-05T15:09:02Z")
Not retail (yet!), but I did come up with this: [Encapsulation of a Metal–Organic Polyhedral in the Pores of a Metal–Organic Framework](http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/jacs.5b12189) ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2017, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smallest-metal-can-still-used-for-retail/800717/18 "2017-11-05T20:51:21Z")
I’ve seen snuff cans that weren’t much larger than a poker chip. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2017, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smallest-metal-can-still-used-for-retail/800717/19 "2017-11-05T22:29:06Z")
The smallest tins of [Tiger Balm](http://wangx2001.en.made-in-china.com/product/NXZQEjpcMvkK/China-Chinese-Essential-Balm-Tiger-Balm-3G-3-5g-10g-19g-18-4G-19-4G.html) are pretty tiny. ---
**Author:** ![icantdraw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3ec8ea/32.png) [@icantdraw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/icantdraw)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2017, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smallest-metal-can-still-used-for-retail/800717/20 "2017-11-06T14:06:00Z")
I’ve got a tin of saffron that would hold about a thimble’s worth… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/smallest-metal-can-still-used-for-retail/800717.md?page=2)