
The Beer Can Collectors of America list over 5,000 different brands of canned beer, including foreign labels. When major label varieties and changes are considered--such as the 300 different designs used in the Rainer Beer Jubilee Series--the number of different cans goes up to 12,000, maybe even as many as 20,000. Nobody really knows for sure.
Most of these cans are out-of-date and therefore scarce, often rare. When the first beer can came out in 1935, about 730 American breweries were operating. In 1952, only 350 remained, and by 1970 that number had dwindled to less than 70 breweries.
The W. W. II tin and steel shortages forced a sharp cutback in beer can production; most cans were marked specifically for GI consumption, with the brand's design in a black outline against an olive-drab background. These "camouflage cans" are now prized by collectors. So are such rare brands as Canadian Ace M. L., Sir Lady Frothingslosh Ale, and Scotch Highland Ale (in cone-top), all of which sell for several hundred dollars apiece. Value, of course, depends on condition in beer can collecting. Rusted or dented cans are generally avoided by the more discerning collectors.
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