Can-Can News

Can-Can News!

There were beer cans of all shapes and sizes, signs from long-defunct brands and even business cards from microbreweries in Kansas. These were were among the items collectors sought as they gathered this week in September for an event dubbed the CANvention. Oh boy, I just can’t wait to start collecting! Why turn them in for recycling, when you have a whole CANvention dedicated to them?
John Ahrens recalls when he was first sucked into beer-can collecting. Now I’m wondering which came first, the sucking up of beers or the collecting? The 63-year-old suburban Philadelphia man, who was among the more than 800 people attending the 36th annual convention of the Brewery Collectibles Club of America, was a student at Yale University when his classmates began lining a ledge with cans. Ahh yes, The Famous BeerCan Decorating Frathouse.

By graduation, Ahrens had 250 cans, barely enough for the bathroom it seems,and…( ready for the surprise?) he kept adding to them. His collection eventually grew as did the AAA Membership no doubt to include about 30,000 cans — winning him a spot for about 15 years in "The Guinness Book of World Records." You just know his parents had to be proud of that early college achievement.

Ahrens said he has since whittled his collection down to about…..only 2,000 cans. That’s just because 28,000 of them now make up his beer-can furniture, no doubt.

"Some things are unmanageable," the law book salesman said Wednesday. Apparently his beer-drinking being one of them.

Many club members are professionals, including physicians and pharmacists don’t they know it’s not good to mix beer with drugs?. They are visible from the T-shirts they wear, toting the wares of lesser-known brewers, including Moose Drool, a product of Big Sky Brewing Co. of Missoula, Mont. Anyone know partyof5dj’s occupation? He just might be the one holding the can under the Moose chin. Or was it the other end…do I remember him mentioning something about Moose Poo Ale?

They come to the convention from all over the world, including Japan, Germany, South America and New Zealand. Excuse me, “all over the world” is inclusive isn’t it?. Some collectors ship their cans in advance, packing hotel elevators as they haul boxes to their rooms and the exhibition space in south Kansas City. I suppose with all of the restrictions for carryon bags this is a good idea.

Each is hoping to fill different gaps in their collections. Some are seeking one beer can from each country in the world. Now those are people with a purpose driven life! Others specialize in memorabilia from brewers from specific cities or eras. Pssst..have any Pre-Columbian cans?

The group started in St. Louis in 1970, when about six people began meeting to discuss their collections. ”Hey Bill, I’ll trade you two cases of empty Bud cans for a Corona.” The first convention was held a year later in a suburb of St. Louis.

The group's membership peaked at about 10,500 later that decade and has since shrunk to under 3,000. That darned wine craze! Many members are nearing or well into retirement. Only 24 members are under 30. AHEM…does that imply that over 30 year olds are…well into retirement”?

"It's the nature of our society," said Rich La Susa, of Gold Canyon, Ariz. "Young people don't collect." Oh yeah, tell Ebay that.

Member bylaws discourage selling memorabilia, though it still occurs in the hotel rooms. Ahhh, how sneaky of this old group…they sure know how to skirt the rules. Purists, members explained, believe cans and other collectibles should be traded or given away. Is that a new religion or something…hmmm, Purists?

In the main exhibition area, members must trade to add to their collections. Soooo, when you are done sneaking around each others hotel rooms there is more fun to be had!

But in the past 10 or 15 years, people started selling their cans, betcha thought I’d make some inane comment about that, and the prices they can fetch are growing. Hah…so are their cans I hear. Marcia Butterbaugh, a former president of the club, said one can recently sold on the Internet auction site eBay for $23,000. Sorta puts the $101.33 burger in perspective now doesn’t it.?

Butterbaugh, 63 they just had to tell us her age, said the high-dollar can was produced in the 1940s by Anheuser-Busch Cos. and featured a cone-shaped top. But Butterbaugh said many cans can still be bought for about 50 cents. Also of note is the fact that unsold cone-cans were used in an old Madonna video.

She is one of the small number of women in the group and specializes in flattop cans that had to be punctured to free their contents. Her husband, Craig Retchless who sometimes sports a flattop hirdo, collects specific types of signs. No..not Haircuts 10¢.

Their collection has spread throughout their home in Kearney. "Even in the bathrooms," Butterbaugh said. Ahhh-Haaa, and you thought I was kidding earlier!

Another longtime member, Lew Cady, 69, of Denver, wrote "Beer Can Collecting," an out-of-print book that profiles several early collectors and features tips on restoring dented and rusty cans. About 80,000 copies were sold. How depressing is that? Well, think I will write a book too…on…errrr…um…sheesh, maybe people who write books about narrow topics and actually sell a bunch of them.

He said the hobby can be cheap. So is collecting dust bunnies. "You can start a collection walking along a country road," he said.

One chapter of the group, the Rusty Bunch, searches for cans at former camp sites and along ravines — sometimes using metal detectors. Not to be confused with the Crusty Bunch. Members of that branch are bringing their extra cans to the convention. They plan to dump their finds on the ground Saturday and allow attendees to dig through the rubble. Oh gee, I just can’t wait!

Children are invited to participate and get a head start. Now can I let a line like that go un-noticed? Groan. Well, I know plenty of can collecting kids, but for recycling purposes, of course!

In between trading, convention-goers also will tour Kansas City's Boulevard Brewing Co., which is contributing beer to a tasting event that will feature drinks from several other smaller breweries. How interesting, then they can see full cans for a change!