9. American Can Company Stopper Factory, 20 Verona Street
At the turn of the twentieth century, the manufacture of cans was big business in America. Food and toiletry products packed in bottles and cans of the era required air-tight stoppers that could be removed and applied over and over. Beginning in 1886 notes Eating in Translation, the Chesebrough Manufacturing Company bottled its popular petroleum jelly, Vaseline, at this building in Red Hook. The American Stopper Company moved to the plant in 1903. American Stopper was acquired by the American Can Company in 1915. Two floors were added to Chesebrough’s two-story plant, which displays the company’s ghost sign.
The American Can Company, a manufacturer of tin cans, was founded in 1901. American Can left the packaging industry after many mergers and in 1987 was renamed Primerica, a financial conglomerate. Today, apartments and small businesses occupy the complex.
