Anyone Ever Collect?

I did when I was in high school in the late 1970s. Believe it or not, back then it was quite a popular hobby for teenagers in my area - mostly males - to collect beer cans. Today, the politically correct police and MADD mothers would get their undies in a bundle over something like that!

I used to have ~500 at one time and I had a friend who had nearly 1500 that lined the walls of his parent's basement rec room. When they retired and sold the house in the mid 1980s, the cans were left behind as part of the deal!

I still have about 100 of the more unusual cans displayed in my kitchen. Almost all the breweries they represent went under by the late 1980s. One of my favorites looks like this one:

Rhoobarb said:

I did when I was in high school in the late 1970s. Believe it or not, back then it was quite poular in my area for teenagers - mostly males - to collect beer cans. Today, the politically correct police and MADD mothers would get their undies in a bundle over something like that!

I used to have ~500 at one time and I had a friend who had nearly 1500 that lined the walls of his parent's basement rec room. When they retired and sold the house in the mid 1980s, the cans were left behind as part of the deal!

I still have about 100 of the more unusual cans displayed in my kitchen. Almost all the breweries they represent went under by the late 1980s.

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That explains it! Quite often, I see people on Craigslist selling their can collections.

In college, we used to collect bottles. I had a HUGE 4-shelf organizer filled with empty 40's and bottles of Jim Beam.

When I was a kid, one of the neighbors collected cans. He was about 8 years older than me and it seemed like a bunch of his friends did it too. From what I recall, he was 17-18 when he started and had a pretty cool collection.

You don't hear about it much anymore, but this lady is somewhat inspiring with her can collection

rdwj said:

You don't hear about it much anymore, but this lady is somewhat inspiring with her can collection

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Yeah, I saw her 'cans' yesterday in another thread!

Back then, I used to belong to the BCCA, which was the - wait for it - Beer Can Collectors of America! They are still around, but with a different name. They used to hold an annual CANvention and boasted Broderick Crawford as a member. Broderick Crawford. Broderick Crawford! WTF kind of celebrity is that?

I remember when I was about 15 calling round to a friends house to meet up before we went on to the pub to sneak a quiet pint or two (happy days....)
His Dad was in so we sampled his home brewed bitter and perused the 3 or 4 sacks full of beer mats that he'd collected all round Britain in Pubs.

But collecting cans? That's just scrap metal dealing.....

Caplan said:

...But collecting cans? That's just scrap metal dealing.....

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No, no! It's art collecting!

And over there in the UK, you had much easier access to one of the true classic beer can series of the 1970s and true works of art in their own right - the Tennants Girls!

Someone posted other pics of the Girls from earlier cans on here in the past. I used to drink Tennant's lager when I was younger but sadly missed the delights of 'Sylvia' and friends.

I love how you called it 'one of the true classic beer can series of the 1970s'. - Spoken like a true collector Rhoobarb!

My sophomore year in college, I was in a coed dorm and one of the women on the floor had several hundred TAB cans lining the wall of her room. Now that was strange.

[I like Sylvia best]

Lee. Definitely Lee.

I used to collect the contents of beer cans before I found "Real Ale".

IN college, my roomate and I made a cool table out of Bud cans. We glued them into rings and glued several rings atop one another until we hit the desired height. The top was a 1" thick piece of glass from a porthole. It was cool. Razor blades wouldn't scratch the surface, so it was very useful for... things. After I got married it didn't seem to fit the decor that SWMBO had in mind.

when the hell did we get a can collector section?

I know a guy that made a room divider out of cans. Laid them on their side and piled them two deep up to the ceiling.
He likes a drop!

1 Guy, 1 brand, 70,000 cans
http://www.snopes.com/photos/odd/beercans.asp

I've got a full, ringed sixer of Billy Beer. . .with matching mugs!!

Biermann said:

I've got a full, ringed sixer of Billy Beer. . .with matching mugs!!

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The mugs are probably worth much more than the cans themselves!

i have probably 100 or so classic (20-40) years old cans ..anything American worth any $? I was going to sell them in this springs yard sale..you know to keep the women off my back about my future kegging plans

Kegofclub said:

i have probably 100 or so classic (20-40) years old cans ..anything American worth any $? ...

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It really depends on what you have. For any can to be worth anything more than a buck or two these days, it has to be rare - and by rare, I mean a can that was a limited run or a beer that didn't last very long on the market. You can get more by selling to a collector, but I wouldn't expect to get much for them at a garage sale.

There is a nice, concise article here and some items listed here. The BCCA publishes a buyer's guide called United States Beer Cans that you might find at the local library.

LOL Billy Beer, My dad has some put back.. Billy Carter HELL OF A MAN

rdwj said:

When I was a kid, one of the neighbors collected cans. He was about 8 years older than me and it seemed like a bunch of his friends did it too. From what I recall, he was 17-18 when he started and had a pretty cool collection.

You don't hear about it much anymore, but this lady is somewhat inspiring with her can collection

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oh man that site was hillarious, nice lame t shirts and boob shots

OMG! She's kinda creepy.

Rhoobarb said:

OMG! She has a video! She's kinda creepy.

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She kinda looks like a guy - with a pretty hot female body. It's very confusing

Any old farts out there remember this guy?

Rhoobarb said:

OMG! She has a video! She's kinda creepy.

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That video should be renamed

Siesmic event cleaves Hollister in two.

EdWort said:

Any old farts out there remember this guy?

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I've got a 12oz. insulated mug wit him on it that Eric at Taverntrove assures me is probably worth $10 or so. Bud man used to be everywhere.

EdWort said:

Any old farts out there remember this guy?

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I may not be an old fart; he's well before my drinking days, but I definitely remember him. For some strange reason, he brings back childhood memories. Don't ask me why; because I couldn't even begin to give an answer.

Me and couple friends hold onto 1 bottle of each kind that we try. We're approaching 200 and trying to make more room.

I had a can collection, but it got messed up..................
...............

I didn't see her face but she did have some big cans, I mean nice cans, I mean perky cans.... aww nevermind I'm going to go watch the vidio!!