How did 13 gallons become the standard for kitchen trash bags in the U.S.?

Off the top of my head, I’d say that the ‘standard’ kitchen trash container came first. As kitchen cabinets became standardized in size for efficiency reasons, there was only a certain amount of space under the sink for a container to fit. So, manufacturers of trash cans found a balance of largest size and convenience to fill the space. Why not 12 or 14, I dunno.

Which raises the question: Do most people keep their kitchen trash container under the sink, or elsewhere?

Well, I don’t keep my trash under the sink. It has its own little closet. I keep the trash bags on the fridge, out of reach of children.

Nice conjecture. I think the move was on to push people to place the trash under the sink. Convince housewives to hide the unattractive smelly trash. Most of those postwar tract home kitchens were devoid of open space or convenient nooks and corners, and you’re pretty much deprived of anywhere to place the can where you aren’t likely to trip over it.

Well, there are very good reasons for keeping trash out of sight, such as keeping kids and dogs out of it. It’s not only “housewives” who don’t want it on display.

(I’m kind of amazed you said that, @stanleybmanly.)

I’m not knocking housewives. It was just an era where they were the essential people to whom these kitchens were marketed. It was assumed that the men in the house would keep the trash can on the dining room table without a care, if they bothered with a can at all.

Or just throw it in a corner and put a football on top of it!

It is about 50 litres.

13 gallon = 49.2104 liter. If 13 = 50 I would declare a solid winner.

Under the sink containers are typically 5 gallon or less. I’m not buying the ‘hiding a 13 gallon’ can because I’ve never lived in a house where you could effectively ‘hide’ a 13 gallon can. I think that large of a can would be smelly if enclosed, too.

And I don’t recall living anywhere that I used anything but a 13 gallon can in the kitchen, as I am now in a 60’s era ranch.

The Costco bags that we’ve been buying forever are labeled ‘kitchen trash bags’ 13 gallons.

They are bigger than the plastic waste basket we put them in, fill the basket easily, and fold over the top and down the outside 6–8 inches. The basket is the biggest possible for the undersink space while still being functional. I’ve gone this far, I might as well go measure…

The basket top rim is 11×14 inches. Height 18 inches. Rounding off, call it 8 gal per cubic foot, the basket is 12.8 gallons.

I think you can go to 5 gallon, or the equivalent, @bossob.
18 ” tall. Pshaw.

My 13 gallon can is surely a yard tall.
But thanks for confirming the 13 gallon standard.

Also, pretty sure they’ve done away with that no 13th floor nonsense in high risers.

In Manhattan, out of 629 buildings with 13 or more floors, only 55 labeled the 13th floor as the 13th floor.

I mean, as in newly constructed buildings. Pretty sure no one is stupid enough to actually worry about that an more.

Changing the 14th floor back to the 13th on older buildings would probably cause headaches not worth dealing with. Plus you’d then have to change all the floors above it.
It’s been a long time since I’ve been in a building that was more than 13 stories tall. I’ll check it out next time.

Newer buildings seem even likelier to skip 13 than older ones

Well, we’re just getting dumber and dumber, aren’t we!

Lowest common denominator, IMO.

If there’s even .01% chance, go with that.

I read something that it’s become more of a construction cheat thing than a superstitious thing. The architects can claim it is 50 stories tall, because 50 is the last floor….but since they skipped 13 it’s only 49 stories tall, in reality. (Pretending it’s bigger than it is has to be a guy thing!)

LOL touche

Don’t play the boob, @Dutchess_III.

@Dutchess_III and you ‘mericans count the ground floor as Floor 1. So a 50 story building only actually has 48…or have I got that the wrong way round??