Today in 1958, US Patent 2841500 A was issued, an invention of James O. Hughes and Ray Nelson, assigned to Tri-State Processing Company, of Yakima, Wash., for their “Method Of Packaging And Preserving Hops.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary:

Our invention relates to a method of packaging hops. An important object of the invention is to provide a simple and inexpensive method of storing hops which have been compressed in bales, for providing an airtight package. A further object of the invention is to provide an airtight casing or container for the hops, which will retain the hops within their original state, without the loss of aroma or color.

A method of packaging hops for shipment and preserving the same in the original condition during such shipment, comprising taking a compressed bale of hops and removing the original covering sheet and bands therefrom, subjecting the original compressed bale of hops to a higher degree of pressure to highly compress the bale and reduce the size of the bale to approximately one-half of the original size, retaining the highly compressed bale in substantially the same reduced size by enclosing the same in a sheet and bands and thereby resisting the expansion of the bale, then enclosing the highly compressed bale which is reduced in size Within a casing formed from a plastic sheet, then heat sealing.