The ancient Greeks, Phoenicians and Egyptians packaged shipments of wines and oils in clay pots and ceramic jars at least 4,000 years ago. Cylindrical containers were a standard package on voyages throughout the ancient world and the cylinder remains the container of choice for liquids and semi-solids due to their strength and ease of handling.
The 1800s saw the rise of the wooden barrel, which reigned until the turn of the 20th century. Although stronger and easier to produce than the ancient ceramics, the wooden barrel had a significant disadvantage: it leaked!
After initially appearing in Europe, the first steel barrels were produced commercially in the United States in 1902 by Standard Oil Company in Bayonne, NJ. The bilge-sided barrels with riveted seams were clumsy, expensive and still not leak-proof. But major technical developments began flowing in rapid succession and continue to this day.
In 1905, the American Steel Barrel Company, with Nellie Bly at its helm, was awarded the first patent for the straight-sided 55-gallon drum.
World War I tripled the fledgling steel drum industry to more than 30 manufacturers by the end of the war. Heavy demand boosted production and fostered innovation. By the late 1930s, the 55-gallon, 18-gauge steel drum was a crucial link in transporting vital materials.
By the 1950s and '60s, the dominant petroleum market for steel drums was overtaken by the burgeoning chemical industry.
In the 1990s, the U.S. Department of Transportation adopted Performance-oriented Packaging regulations for industrial packaging. This shift allowed steel drum manufacturers to produce products to any design specification so long as it passed a series of tests designed to insure its safety and reliability in transportation.
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