Q: Why are the labels on cans of cranberry sauce upside down?

— Whitey Harwood

A: Upside-down is in the eye of the beholder. But it is true that most food cans have a rounded bottom and ridged top. Cranberry sauce cans are the other way around.

With cranberry sauce, the rounded end of the can is filled with an air bubble vacuum, which makes it easier to get the sauce out. Then the cans are placed on the shelf with the rounded end up, stamped “open other end.”

To activate the vacuum, you insert a  knife between the can and the jelly. This allows air to reach through to the bubble and push the contents out.

What that means is the rounded end isn’t really the bottom. They’re just differently designed cans.

About City Lake

A follow-up to a multi-part question about several city projects. We were able to answer all but one question: Why hasn’t the fountain in City Park Lake worked for months?

Stephen Brown, who works for the city of Salisbury, said the fountain was being repaired. It will be back in action soon. And the Christmas tree will return to the island also.