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Collectors Weekly

The practice of selling beer by the can coincided with the end of Prohibition in 1933. Anticipating, perhaps, a change in the political climate, American Can Company had a flat-topped steel beer can ready to go, but it had to offer to install its canning line for free before a Newark, New Jersey, brewer named Krueger would agree to package its beer in cans. In fact, Krueger was so worried its customers would reject beer in cans that it didn’t launch its new product until 1935, and chose Richmond, Virginia, as its test market. Richmond was deemed far enough away from headquarters not to hurt the brewer’s reputation if the cans were crushed by the bottled competition.

Canned beer, though, was an immediate hit, prompting National Can and Continental Can to tool up that same year. National’s first customer was Northampton, which canned its Tru-Blu brands in flat-top cans. National canned beer for numerous other small brewers, too, from Red Top in Cincinnati to King’s Brewing in Brooklyn. American Can landed big national accounts like Anheuser-Busch (maker of Budweiser), Pabst, and Ballantine. Continental was famous for the cone-topped cans it produced for Schlitz.

Cone-top cans appealed to customers because they were easy to pour, and they were popular with brewers because the cans could be slotted into existing bottling lines. There were ...

Flat tops were simpler to make and cheaper to ship than cone tops—in the end, that won the day. Because flat-top cans were ubiquitous compared to cone-top cans, which had all but disappeared by the end of the 1950s, cone tops are generally more sought after by collectors.

Another subset of beer-can collecting focuses on cans made during World War II. All beer sent to the military, which was supposed to account for 15 percent of each brewer’s output, had less alcohol in it than beer brewed for domestic consumption (3.2 percent versus 4-to-7 percent). That’s one differentiator to look for when trying to date a potential war-era can, which should also have a statement on it that reads, "Withdrawn Free of Internal Revenue Tax for Exportation." By 1944, the domestic labels used for canned military-bound beer were replaced with olive-drab packaging, which makes these cans even easier to identify.

In the postwar years, all flat-top cans had to be opened manually with a church key. In 1960, Burger Brewing of Cincinnati introduced a steel can with an aluminum lid to make this task easier for consumers. But the major change in beer cans occurred in 1962, when Pittsburgh’s Iron City Brewing canned its beer in Alcoa-made zip-top cans. Over the next two years, numerous different types of zip-top cans would be introduced, some with no instructions on the can’s tops, others with sharp edges on the tab itself, and a few that left an opening in the top of the can that collectors refer to as a dogbone for its shape. Schiltz called its zip tops "pop tops." Call them what you like, but these small, sharp strips of metal littered beaches and parks until 1975, when they were replaced by stay tabs.

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James Bond 007 Beer Can - Special Blend Big Ben 1968Old Original Chief Oshkosh Cone Top Beer Can - Oshkosh, Wisconsin - Vintage/mugRare Clean Iroquois Cone Top Beer Can Iroquois Bev. Co, Buffalo, Ny Orig. CapRare Coors Waterfall 12oz Flat Top Beer Can Irtp 51-17Rare Coors Waterfall 12oz Flat Top Beer Can Irtp 51-17New England Ale Flat Top Beer Can-commonwealth Brewing. Co.-springfield, Mass. Scarce & Beautiful Old Reading Cone Top Beer Can Reading Brewing, Pa Orig. CapKaiers Special Beer Cone Top Can Mahanoy City Pa 1940's Great ConditionPremier Pabst 1935 Beer Can O/i Irtp Milwaukee,wisconsin+illinois Patent PendingDuquesne Keg-o-beer Low Profile Cone Top Beer Can (irtp, Cool Before Serving)Australian Coopers Beer Afl / Vfl Footy Beer Can Set 49er Premium Beer Atlas Brewing Co Flat Top Beer Cans102 Dark Beer Pull Tab Beer Can Tough California Can By Maier Brewing Grade 1+Zobeleins Eastside Beer Can, Cone Top, Los Angeles Brg Co, Los Angeles, Ca, IrtpAtlas Prager Oi/irtp Flat Top Beer Can Atlas Brew Co Chicago, IlPatrick Henry Flat Top Beer Can Peter Fox Brew Co Chicago, IlAmbassador Export Beer Cone Top Beer CanBudweiser Beer Can Radio [new Old Stock] Circa 1970'sBeer Can Bonanza! Lot Of 59!Rare Yuengling's Old Oxford Ale Irtp Cone Top Beer Can Pottsville,pennsylvaniaBoston Bruins Beer Can UnopenedTwo Vintage Fauerbach Flat Top And Cone Top Beer Cans From Madison Wisconsin Rare & Old Australian Beer CansIrtp Tru-blu Ale 1930's 10oz! J-spout Cone Top Beer Can Northampton,pennsylvaniaVintage Deluxe Old Shay Cone Top Beer Can, Ft. Pitt Brewing, PittsburghRed Top Beer 1950's * High Profile Cone Top Beer Can * Cincinnati, Ohio Cinci OhColonial Wehle Ale O/i Irtp Flat Top Beer Can-wehle Brwg Co.-west Haven, Con . Canadian Ace Extra Pale Brand Beer Cone Top Can Vintage 12 Oz. Keeley "just Right" Ale Beer Can Best Brewing Chicago, Ill.5 Vintage Schmidt Unrolled Beer Cans - 12 Oz Beer - Cowboy, Wildlife, Ski ScenesGreat Lakes Flat Top Beer Can Schoenhofen-edelweiss Brew Co Chicago, IlMeiser Brau Happy Days 1957 Flat Top Beer Can Peter Hand Brew Co Chicago, Il1950s Rarest Flat Top Cerveza Corona Puerto Rico Pr Beer Can San Juan EmptyIrtp O/i Black Arrow 200th Anniversary Beer Can Baltimore,md.maryland Flat TopPepsi Cone Top Can With Cap1938 Irtp Black Horse Jax Cowboy Beer Can Jackson New Orleans,louisiana Flat TopWeilands Extra Pale Lager Beer Cone Top Can San Jose Pacific Breing MaltingVintage Beer Can Collection 1970 -1980 LotVintage Brucks Cone Top Good Old Beer Can The Bruckman Co Cincinnati OhioSchmidt's Beer 1940's Irtp High Profile Cone Top Beer Can Detroit Michigan Mich.Red Top Extra Pale Beer High Profile Cone Top Beer Can Cincinnati, Ohio Cinci OhSchaffer Flat Top Beer Can. Scarce Acme Ale Flat Top Beer Can (usbc# 28-36)31 - 12oz Harley Davidson Bottom & Top Opened Aluminum Beer Cans #12Old Vintage Cone Top Beer Can By National Premium Pale Dry BeerIndoor Red Miller Select Oi Beer Can, Milwaukee, WsNice Rare Can Cone Top C & C Super Ginger Ale Soda 12 Ozs Gold 6 Cone Top Beer Cans Fountain Export Sierra Silver Cream Rainier+bohemian IrtpIrtp Tru-blu Beer Can 1930's 10oz! J-spout Cone Top Northampton,pennsylvania7-11 Flat Top Beer Can - FloridaBurgemeister Flat Top Beer Can Warsaw Brew Co Warsaw, IlOld Large Australian Steel Beer CansPaul Bunyan 12oz Flat Top Beer Can Green Mountain - State VersionCopper Club Pilsner Cone Top Beer Can A. Haas Brewing Michigan Excellent Nr .99Nascar Action Racing Adult Collectible Bill Elliott's Car In A Beer CanKuebler Pilsner Cone Top Beer CanGoetz Country Club Malt Liquor 8 Ounce Flat Top Beer CanBanner Beer Empty Flat Top Beer Can - Cumberland Bwg - Cumberland MarylandBell's Two Hearted Ale 5 Liter Gallon Bubba 5l Mini Keg Barrel Beer Can. Mi.5lt Roughrider # 80 Bubba Beer Can

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