• @ricecake@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    English
    2187 months ago

    The weird thing is, they don’t actually sell the jars anymore. “Ball jars” are not made by the ball jar corporation after their antitrust lawsuits for being a fucking jar monopoly. So they sold the “ball jar” rights and now only do aluminum cans for food packaging and high end satellites and satellite launch systems.

    • @Skullgrid@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      1387 months ago

      now only do aluminum cans for :

      • food packaging
      • high end satellites
      • satellite launch systems.

      I find this interpretation funny

    • Metostopholes
      link
      fedilink
      English
      467 months ago

      They don’t even do aerospace anymore. Ball Aerospace & Technologies was bought by BAE Systems earlier this year.

    • @CosmicTurtle0@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      link
      fedilink
      English
      287 months ago

      On December 11, 1939, the U.S. Government sued the Ball Brothers, the Hazel-Atlas Glass Co., and the Owens-Illinois Glass Co. under monopoly charges based on the Hartford-Empire and Owens licensing agreements. The plaintiff claimed that small producers were being frozen out of business or prohibited from entering manufacture by the nature of the licenses. Almost a decade later, in 1947, the justices rendered a final verdict. The court prohibited the Ball Brothers from purchasing or otherwise controlling any other businesses engaged in the same manufacturing processes – in other words, the small jar producers. In addition, Ball had to divest itself of the Three Rivers Glass Co. (already closed for almost a decade) that Ball had acquired in 1936. Ball sold the property

    • @Teal@lemm.ee
      link
      fedilink
      English
      67 months ago

      I wasn’t aware of the jar monopoly situation. Maybe my old Balls will become collectible someday.

      • @ricecake@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        English
        67 months ago

        So, at the time (1930) ball jar actually would have qualified as big business in the sense that you mean.
        Home canning was very popular and they consistently bought out smaller companies.
        Since they were privately owned, it’s tricky to find specifics about value, but they were “found a university”, “own a company town or two”, “chairman of the federal reserve” levels of rich.

        So actually a pretty good use of government.

  • KillingTimeItself
    link
    fedilink
    English
    147 months ago

    The US government casually approaching heatshield fabrication company ltd. asking them to make nuclear warheads for the price of a gazillion dollars.

    Government contract work is a funny thing.

  • @portuga@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    247 months ago

    Me: pour me a guiness, please

    Bartender: here you go mate

    Me: by any chance do you know where I can get a record of the world’s longest mustache

    Bartender: well you won’t believe this…

    • @isolatedscotch@discuss.tchncs.de
      link
      fedilink
      English
      197 months ago

      Me: Get me some Michelin tires, please

      Mechanic: Here you go mate

      Me: by any chance do you know where I can get a detailed guide of the finest restaurants in the country?

      Mechanic: well you won’t belive this…

    • @tetris11@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      English
      67 months ago

      Me: Another Guinness please
      Bartender: Here you go
      Me: urgh what is this?
      Bartender: A Stout. Why, is it bad quality?
      Me: It seems so. Don’t you have a way of testing this beforehand?
      Bartender: Now that you mention it…

  • pruwyben
    link
    fedilink
    English
    807 months ago

    Me: I need some tires.

    Michelin: No problem, anything else?

    Me: I don’t suppose you know where I can get a list of the best restaurants in the world?

    Michelin: You’re not gonna believe this.

    • @darkpanda@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      English
      627 months ago

      The whole point of the Michelin guides were originally to entice people to drive more to visit hotels and restaurants and such, thus leading to more tire wear which would lead to more tire sales, and eventually more money for Michelin.

      • 👍Maximum Derek👍
        link
        fedilink
        English
        607 months ago

        I like that the Guinness Book of World Records was created because the manager of Guinness Breweries wanted to stop arguments in pubs (and keep people drinking).

        • @SoGrumpy@lemmy.ml
          link
          fedilink
          English
          167 months ago

          The Guinness Book of World Records is in the Guinness Book of World Records itself, for being the book most stolen from libraries.

  • hissing meerkat
    link
    fedilink
    English
    107 months ago

    You’re not going to believe this but Ball made all of the mirror … except the mirror itself.

    • @atomicorange@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      27 months ago

      Ball outsourced the optics, not really their specialty. Also made of toxic beryllium so preferable not to machine in-house!

  • rustydomino
    link
    fedilink
    English
    677 months ago

    That’s almost as good as Aperture Science selling shower curtains and multidimensional portal devices.

  • @TargaryenTKE@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    1
    edit-2
    7 months ago

    Wait until OP learns about the chaebol system or Nintendo

    Edit: I was drunk confusing Nintendo with something it isn’t, I was wrong