I'm the curator of the newly-acquired H.J. Heinz Company collection at the
Historical Society of Western Pennsylvania.  The collection includes
35,000 items, including numerous bottles, cans and other food containers,
many of which have never been opened.  I'd like to keep the food in some
of the glass containers, especially if there are multiple examples of the
same bottle (yes, we have some VERY OLD ketchup & pickles!), but I'm
concerned about the possibilty of explosion and possible damage to other
items in the collection.  Some of the metal cans look like they're about
to blow at any time, and I'd like to remove the contents of them right
away.  Any suggestions on how to handle the glass containers, or how
to go about opening the cans?  The stuff inside the bottles is
fascinating, but I'm not looking forward to seeing the contents of the
puffy cans!
 
Thanks,
p
 
Gregory Smith
HSWP,Pittsburgh