David R. Reynolds | Aluminum maker, 96

David P. Reynolds, 96, a metals manufacturing executive who helped put aluminum foil and aluminum beverage cans into the American kitchen, died Monday in Richmond, Va.

Mr. Reynolds was the last member of his family to lead Reynolds Metals, which was founded in 1919 by his father, Richard Sr., and grew to become the nation's second-largest aluminum manufacturer behind Alcoa. Reynolds was sold to Alcoa in 2000, five years after Mr. Reynolds stepped down from its board.

He joined the family business as a salesman out of college in 1937 and began trying to persuade the major St. Louis breweries to affix aluminum labels to their beer bottles. Almost 50 years later, at 71, he retired as Reynolds' chairman and CEO, positions he held for a decade.

He oversaw the development of aluminum products for the aerospace, automotive, and construction industries. But he was best known for bringing the metal to a mass consumer audience.

Aluminum foil had been sold since the 1920s, largely as an industrial product, but Mr. Reynolds saw an opportunity for Reynolds Wrap to become a household staple. He developed television commercials to show how aluminum foil could be used in cooking and arranged demonstrations to educate consumers on how to wrap leftovers.

Aluminum beer cans made their debut in the late 1950s, and the Reynolds company was quick to take notice. It began manufacturing aluminum cans for the Theodore Hamm Brewing Co. of Minnesota in 1963, and four years later, it introduced the first aluminum cans for Pepsi and Diet Pepsi. Today, more than half of all beverages sold in supermarkets come in aluminum packaging.

- N.Y. Times News Service