Brian McMahon has a soft spot in his heart for tin cans.

They were once symbols of the American manufacturing economy, emblems of early 20th century commerce and industrialization, and 15-ounce pioneers of product branding.

As food packaging evolved toward plastics and manufacturing moved overseas, thousands of American jobs went with it or were fundamentally transformed, perhaps none more so than the jobs at the American Can Factory in St. Paul’s Midway.

McMahon, a Stillwater architect who has interviewed dozens of former American Can employees, is working on two books on the subject.

One focuses heavily on the history of the American Can Factory, which stretches to 1889 and includes Green Giant vegetables, Hormel Spam, Hershey’s chocolate and Rayette hairspray. The other book looks at tin cans in general, and their role in the pre-war economy in particular.

McMahon, who recently authored a book on the history of the Ford manufacturing campus in St. Paul’s Highland Park neighborhood, will deliver remarks on tin cans from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday at Bethlehem Covenant Church, 3141 43rd Ave. S., Minneapolis.