Patent #2,707,581, granted on May 3, 1955, was filed by two men: Yale Kaplan of West Hartford, Connecticut, and Harold M. Ross of Plainfield, New Jersey.
The patent, titled “Dispensing Containers for Liquids,” reads “A primary object of the invention is to provide a container for sauce or syrup, the quantity held by the container being sufficient for a single serving and the flow from the container being effected by squeezing or compressing the container; the container being so constructed and arranged that, when pressure is released, the flow of fluid will stop and any possible leakage will be prevented.”