New Film Documents the History of Shipping Containers

A new film (The Container Story, $29.95) documents how Malcom McLean, a farmer’s son from North Carolina, turned a metal box into one of the more influential inventions of the past century. The documentary uses archival footage and interviews with key figures in the development of containerization, including Malcom McLean, Paul Richardson and Charles Cushing.

Containerized shipping was introduced 50 years ago in April of 1956 in Newark, New Jersey, where the first container boxes were shipped.