Communities all over America were "mobilized" on the home front back in the very early years of World War II. With the dearth of over 70 senior citizens on the web, I would guess that few visitors to this website recall how we stripped the paper labels off of tin cans, opened both ends, placed the bottom and top lids into the open ended tin cans and crushed them flat. This process was all a part of what we called the "scrap drive," where rubber, steel, aluminum, and any other recyclable material was sent to the junk yards for converting back to steel, aluminum, etc. for wartime materiel. Mothers were saving the grease that accumulated with their cooking chores for Uncle Sam, who needed the grease for the glycerin content.
I crush cans as you describe. The reason today is to save space in the recycle bucket.
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