# Why the switch from Pull Tabs on soda to those things that bend in? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 18, 2012, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-switch-from-pull-tabs-on-soda-to-those-things-that-bend-in/609953 "2012-01-18T22:51:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-switch-from-pull-tabs-on-soda-to-those-things-that-bend-in/609953/21 "2012-01-19T05:12:19Z")
Anyone else recall pre-pull-tab pop machines having a slot in them a bit bigger than the can, with a triangular punch on a hinge that was pushed down to open the can? Sometimes the punch was beyond filthy. Probably held back the eradication of smallpox. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-switch-from-pull-tabs-on-soda-to-those-things-that-bend-in/609953/22 "2012-01-19T05:43:50Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > Beaches were a rough place for a child in the 70’s. It is amazing any of us survived the experience. They always told us those things would last 500 years or more even after we stopped making them but I don’t see many around even when digging. Where did they all go? For that matter, where did all that crap from back then go? I don’t see much plastic from the 60’s laying beside the road or even in the woods. A lot of stuff like that is buried in landfills, or floating in those enormous “garbage islands” in the middle of the ocean. I’m not sure what is really worse though. Stuff that doesn’t decay very fast may be unsightly, but that also means it isn’t interacting with the biosphere too much. Stuff that decays fast like sewage may not hang around for decades, but it affects the stuff that’s eating it more than something that just sits there. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-switch-from-pull-tabs-on-soda-to-those-things-that-bend-in/609953/23 "2012-01-19T06:05:54Z")
> [@Kenm](#): > > Sometimes the punch was beyond filthy. Probably held back the eradication of smallpox. I don’t see how. Smallpox is spread by airborne breath particles or direct saliva contact from an infected person. For these can openers to have been a vector for smallpox, an infected person would have to have sucked on his unopened can, then opened it with the opener on the machine, and then another person would have had to soon afterwards opened his can on that same opener. Besides, smallpox had eradicated from the USA a decade before soda pop was sold in cans in vending machines. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-switch-from-pull-tabs-on-soda-to-those-things-that-bend-in/609953/24 "2012-01-19T06:16:56Z")
Some cans of Chinese beer (notably the 330ml cans of Tsingtao) still come with the old-style pull tab. A very nostalgic brew but I no longer drop the thing into the can like I (and everyone I knew) used to. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-switch-from-pull-tabs-on-soda-to-those-things-that-bend-in/609953/25 "2012-01-19T06:26:24Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > The ones I’ve seen recently aren’t the same kind of pull tabs. The new ones aren’t metal at all, they are a sticky tape (maybe aluminized) over a pre-cut triangular hoe in the can. Those aren’t as airtight and won’t keep the product fresh for as long as real metal covers, but that doesn’t matter, since they are mostly used on products with a faster expiration date than soda pop. Are you sure it’s a freshness issue? I figured it was due to the higher pressure of a carbonated drink needed a sturdier cap. Non-carbonated drinks can use a weaker (and cheaper) tape cap. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-switch-from-pull-tabs-on-soda-to-those-things-that-bend-in/609953/26 "2012-01-19T06:28:14Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > Some cans of Chinese beer (notably the 330ml cans of Tsingtao) still come with the old-style pull tab. A very nostalgic brew but I no longer drop the thing into the can like I (and everyone I knew) used to. Real nostalgia is when you can remember cans you had to open with a church key. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-switch-from-pull-tabs-on-soda-to-those-things-that-bend-in/609953/27 "2012-01-19T07:14:56Z")
> [@Mornac](#): > > I knida remeber kids collecting those things and making long chains out of 'em sort of how the previous generation made chains outta chewing gum wrappers. I remember when I was a Boy Scout that we used to make chains out of the pull tabs at summer camp. There was a long chain attached near the vending machine and we were encouraged to add our tabs to the chain instead of throwing individual ones in the trash or on the ground. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-switch-from-pull-tabs-on-soda-to-those-things-that-bend-in/609953/28 "2012-01-19T10:59:43Z")
If I remember correctly it took a bit of strength to pull the tab off correctly. You had to pull it off smooth and straight or the ring had a tendency to snap off, then what. Well you could use a pair of pliers to puff the tab off or pour the contents through a very small hole, decisions, decisions. ---
**Author:** ![kferr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/71e660/32.png) [@kferr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kferr)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-switch-from-pull-tabs-on-soda-to-those-things-that-bend-in/609953/29 "2012-01-19T11:14:20Z")
> [@Mornac](#): > > I knida remeber kids collecting those things and making long chains out of 'em sort of how the previous generation made chains outta chewing gum wrappers. In college in the 80’s we had a beer can tab chain that was around 30 feet long. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-switch-from-pull-tabs-on-soda-to-those-things-that-bend-in/609953/30 "2012-01-19T12:46:06Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > Gee, life must’ve been really cheap in the olden days. We’ve protected ourselves from stupid a lot more since then. The jury is still out on whether or no that’s a good thing. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-switch-from-pull-tabs-on-soda-to-those-things-that-bend-in/609953/31 "2012-01-19T14:04:49Z")
> [@Kenm](#): > > Anyone else recall pre-pull-tab pop machines having a slot in them a bit bigger than the can, with a triangular punch on a hinge that was pushed down to open the can? I remember those! > [@jjimm](#): > > Some cans of Chinese beer (notably the 330ml cans of Tsingtao) still come with the old-style pull tab. A very nostalgic brew but I no longer drop the thing into the can like I (and everyone I knew) used to. Some local Thai drinks are like that. Jelly drinks and cheap soft drinks in small cans, maybe coffee. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-switch-from-pull-tabs-on-soda-to-those-things-that-bend-in/609953/32 "2012-01-19T14:13:47Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > They were a liter problem. They had them on liter bottles? :dubious: 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-switch-from-pull-tabs-on-soda-to-those-things-that-bend-in/609953/33 "2012-01-19T14:15:07Z")
> [@R.P.McMurphy](#): > > Also IIRC, the pull tab was 17% of the aluminum in the can. This seems much too high. Cite? ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-switch-from-pull-tabs-on-soda-to-those-things-that-bend-in/609953/34 "2012-01-19T14:20:32Z")
In import stores here you occasionally see non-European soft drinks with the ring pull yokeys. They went out here around about 1988/89. What I miss is Supercans though, 500ml of fizzy pop goodness. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-switch-from-pull-tabs-on-soda-to-those-things-that-bend-in/609953/35 "2012-01-19T15:26:36Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > Some cans of Chinese beer (notably the 330ml cans of Tsingtao) still come with the old-style pull tab. A very nostalgic brew but I no longer drop the thing into the can like I (and everyone I knew) used to. No, no, no. I remember kids (Chinatown, NYC, in the late 70s) pulling the pop top HALFWAY open, so it was still connected. Then the really cool kids (yes, like me, how’d you guess?) would insert a straw through the “finger pull” circle and into the can. If you were the coolest, you’d somehow shove your finger through the loop as well (painful, but hipness often is) and nonchalantly stroll around, sipping your Coke. Which was often almost empty, because you couldn’t throw it in a bin when you’d spent all that time making sure you you were looking cool. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-switch-from-pull-tabs-on-soda-to-those-things-that-bend-in/609953/36 "2012-01-19T15:36:26Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Real nostalgia is when you can remember cans you had to open with a church key. I tried to find a church key at the store the other day and couldn’t find one. There was a time when the little church key/bottle opener combos were ubiquitously attached magnetically to every refrigerator in the world. Damn, now I can’t find my buggy whip either. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-switch-from-pull-tabs-on-soda-to-those-things-that-bend-in/609953/37 "2012-01-19T15:40:33Z")
I am completely and utterly failing to comprehend what this thread is about. Is [this](http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-images-soda-can-pull-tabs-image3181934) not an image of a bunch of pull tabs? I ask because I have never seen a soda can, ever in my life, that didn’t have one of these on it. And these things are what I have always called “pull tabs.” And googling “soda pop pull tab” yields images of these things. Yet the thread seems to be saying there have not been pull tabs on sodas in years. Am I in an alternate universe? What is happening? ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-switch-from-pull-tabs-on-soda-to-those-things-that-bend-in/609953/38 "2012-01-19T15:51:46Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > I am completely and utterly failing to comprehend what this thread is about. > > Is [this](http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-images-soda-can-pull-tabs-image3181934) not an image of a bunch of pull tabs? > > I ask because I have never seen a soda can, ever in my life, that didn’t have one of these on it. And these things are what I have always called “pull tabs.” And googling “soda pop pull tab” yields images of these things. Yet the thread seems to be saying there have not been pull tabs on sodas in years. > > Am I in an alternate universe? > > What is happening? One of [these](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a2/Beverage_pull_tab.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-switch-from-pull-tabs-on-soda-to-those-things-that-bend-in/609953/39 "2012-01-19T15:53:14Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > I am completely and utterly failing to comprehend what this thread is about. > > Is [this](http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-images-soda-can-pull-tabs-image3181934) not an image of a bunch of pull tabs? > > I ask because I have never seen a soda can, ever in my life, that didn’t have one of these on it. And these things are what I have always called “pull tabs.” And googling “soda pop pull tab” yields images of these things. Yet the thread seems to be saying there have not been pull tabs on sodas in years. > > Am I in an alternate universe? > > What is happening? Kids. No, we’re talking about the old-style pull tabs that looked like [this](http://www.yuenglingcans.com/files/PullTabs/pull-tab.JPG). You pulled the ring part up and stuck your finger through the ring. Then you pulled the triangular part off the can. The entire tab separated from the can, which is why they were a littering problem. ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2012, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-switch-from-pull-tabs-on-soda-to-those-things-that-bend-in/609953/40 "2012-01-19T15:53:39Z")
You still see the damn things on the ground from decades ago. I try to pick them up and chuck them into my recycling bin. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-switch-from-pull-tabs-on-soda-to-those-things-that-bend-in/609953.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-switch-from-pull-tabs-on-soda-to-those-things-that-bend-in/609953.md?page=3)