Reynolds Aluminum: It's the Cans!

David Parham Reynolds. (VMHC Mss3 R3395 a Series 8 1 fdr12)

Today we understand that the aluminum can we sip our beverages out of will most likely be recycled and formed into yet another aluminum can. Our minds are trained to look for the signs of where to deposit our recyclables, and beads of sweat form on our brow when we cannot find the “appropriate receptacle.” If this rings true for you, then some credit should be given to David Parham Reynolds for that response.

David P. Reynolds was the last member of his family to lead Reynolds Metals, which was founded in 1919 by his father, Richard S. Reynolds, Sr., as the U.S. Foil Company, which in 1928 became the Reynolds Metals Company. In 1937, David joined the family business as a salesman, and his first assignment was to drive a converted trailer around the nation to market aluminum.

Reynolds Metals Company Packaging Band Wagon. (VMHC Mss3 R3395 a Series 8 1 fdr10)

In 1938, Richard S. Reynolds, along with his son David, moved the Reynolds Metals headquarter offices from New York to Richmond, Virginia to continue research around new uses for aluminum. Gordon Bunshaft of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill designed and built the nearly 300,000 square-foot headquarters building, which consists mostly of aluminum building material.

David Reynolds has been credited with a number of innovations throughout his career, such as the all-aluminum beverage can and Reynolds Wrap aluminum household foil. in 1947, Richmond became the first market that Reynolds Wrap was tested in, with the target audience being local housewives.

Reynolds also initiated the first national program to reclaim and recycle aluminum cans and other aluminum packaging at the consumer level. Reynolds Metals pioneered consumer recycling of aluminum in 1967 with a pilot project in Miami, Florida. Building on this experience, Reynolds opened a center in Los Angeles in March 1968 that offered cash on the spot for used aluminum.

Reynolds Aluminum Advertisement. (VMHC Mss3 R3395 a Series 8 4 fdr9)

In March 1988, Reynolds Metals Company’s consumer recycling operations celebrated its twentieth anniversary with much fanfare, including a visit from President Ronald Reagan to a Reynolds Metals Company plant in Richmond and a press conference and luncheon at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. Now in 2013, we are used to hearing “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle,” and the idea of recycling and using renewable sources is considered the norm and not the exception. Thanks, in part, to David P. Reynolds.

This collection is being processed thanks to a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC).

Learn more about the Reynolds Business History Center at the VMHC.

This article was written by Paige Newman while serving as an Assistant Archivist at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture.