Breweriana, or beer collectibles, are the focus of groups like the Brewery Collectibles Club of America. As their name suggests, anything and everything beer-related can be collected. Of the many options, beer cans seem to be one of the most popular breweriana available today.
Folks like Gene Judd, Chip Viering, and Steve Paddock are part of the local chapter called Indy Brewery Collectibles. Collectively, the group of 20-plus club members boasts memorabilia like beer cans, bottles, caps and crowns, trays, taps, and many more, according to the Indy Star.
Judd's beer can collection also seems to be one of the most note-worthy. When he is not busy managing his roofing company, he can be found constructing shelves for his massive beer can collection. The house next door to him is also his and it is more like a cave filled with beer cans from top to bottom.
He shares that "Billy Beers, Olde Frothingslosh, and some other beers from '75 really started this craze."
The Olde Frothingslosh is very popular among collectors. It features model Marsha Philips, more popularly known as Fatima Yechburg who was the winner of a fictional beauty contest, on the label of their beer. She became the face of more than 30 beer cans, some of which were specifically commissioned for beer can collectors.
Some beers can also have quite a value to them. Krueger's Beer cans are the first beer cans the world had seen and inherently cost a lot more than others, some going as high as $50,000, depending on condition and rarity.
Breweriana collecting has since waned but the recent rise in popularity of craft beer is changing all that. Paddock says, "In the height of the craft beer boom, a lot of guys are starting to hang out their empties and display them." He adds, "But they are very difficult to keep up with, because there are now hundreds of cans appearing on a monthly basis across the country."
Is this a problem? Not at all. It just means that Judd and the rest of the guys need more shelves.
Thinking of getting into the breweriana craze too? Share this article and try to get your friends in on it too!
