Some say that it originated not in the Florida Keys (where the limes for which it is named were grown) but on the back of Gail Borden's sweetened condensed milk can (what started as a Magic Lemon pie ...

In 1884, Meyenberg patented “a process of sterilization by steam under pressure while the cans are agitated,” and the following year, the first canned evaporated milk was commercially manufactured.