52 (((b))) magazine | s p r i n g 2 0 0 9

collecting memoriesone beer at

a time

He collected sporadically through the

years, but a simple event at age 12 turned

his hobby into something more. He was at

a restaurant with his family, and the young

Swartz was enticed by the beautifully

decorated beer cans the waiter presented.

His dad, intrigued by his interest in the

beer cans, bought him one of each, and

Swartz’s path was set to become the

serious collector that he is today.

Swartz chuckled at the memory. “That

wouldn’t have happened nowadays. I mean,

parents buying their kids beer, even if it

was only for the can?” Swartz then

discovered that there were other people

who were just as passionate about

collecting beer memorabilia as he was.

He learned that there were swap meets,

trading via mail, and tradeshows held for

vendors and collectors alike of all things

beer related. These connections would allow

Swartz to explore the world of

beer can collecting, and to meet fellow

collectors and enthusiasts from around the

world who are also in pursuit of the perfect

beer can.

His passion and wish list grew, and now

his collection of more than 17,000 beer

cans is proudly displayed on library-like

stacks in his basement. Half of the

collection is on display, but due to limited

space, the other half is in storage. His steel

cans are maintained by waxing them with

car wax, and ideally cans are stored in a

peo

ple

WRITTEN BY Jessica MM. BBroughton

MARK SSWARTZ WWAS 99 YYEARS OOLD

when he started collecting beer cans that he

and his friends found by the side of road.

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s p r i n g 2 0 0 9 | (((b))) magazine 53

pe

op

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beer ccan ccollectorclimate-controlled environment to keep

them in their best condition. The beer cans

on display are empty as the cans are

punctured at the bottom to drain out the

liquid while doing minimal damage to the

cans. The collector gets the added bonus of

being able to enjoy a tasty brew.

There are four different types of beer

cans, and most hobbyists pick one of these

types of cans to build their collection. Flat-

top cans were, like the name implies, made

with a flat top and needed a “church key”

to open (similar to what’s needed to open a

can of condensed milk). These cans hit the

market in January of 1935, when

Krueger’s Finest Beer made its debut in

Richmond, Va.

Cone-top cans were created as a

practical approach for smaller brewers to

move from putting beer in bottles to cans

without having to upgrade their equipment.

Cone-top cans were first put on the market

in September of 1935 and were popular

until around 1960, when many of the

smaller brewers who made the cone-top

cans were sold to or put out of business by

the larger brewers.

Pull tabs, also known as tab-top cans,

were invented in 1963 by the Pittsburgh

Brewing Company with the launch of Iron

City Beer. The pull tab meant all that was

needed to open a beer was to hook the tab

through your finger and pull. These were

used up through the mid-1970s, when stay

tabs revolutionized the beverage industry.

Unlike pull tabs, which were discarded, stay

tabs stayed with the can once it was opened

and could be discarded as one piece.

Pictured onthe previous

page with someof his favorites,Mark Swartz’s

collection ofmore than

17,000 beercans is specificto brews made

in the UnitedStates.

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54 (((b))) magazine | s p r i n g 2 0 0 9

Swartz’s collection is specific to brews

made in the United States, and he only

collects tab-top cans. He also collects

cans that are exported from the United

States to other countries to sell or for the

military. For example, Swartz has a tab-

top can of Miller from Russia, and quite a

few cans that were made for the Japanese

market.

“The best way for a collector to get a

hold of those cans is to either know

someone at the brewery who makes them

or to contact someone who is stationed

overseas,” said Swartz. He said that these

cans were harder to come by than most,

so the best bet for collecting them is to

look online for buyers and sellers in other

countries.

The oldest can in his collection is from

1960, and was made by Joyce. Beer cans

are graded on a scale of one to five, with

a rating of five being barely recognizable

as a beer can, and a can rated as a one is

in pristine condition. Swartz only collects

cans that are graded a one or better, and

all of the cans in this collection are in

perfect or near perfect condition.

As a member of the Brewery

Collectibles Club of America (BCCA –

www.bcca.com), Swartz has seen the rise

and fall of the popularity of beer can

collecting. “Beer can collecting was at its

most popular between 1975 and 1982,

when the BCCA had about 40,000

members,” he said.

It became difficult to keep the interest

of adolescents, who were once the largest

collectors of beer memorabilia, for a

number of reasons. Every brewery made

its own collectible cans for the

bicentennial year, and the prices of the

cans began to rise. Baseball cards also

became the latest fad, and because of age

restrictions, many adolescents were not

interested in collecting beer cans when

they were too young to drink. But,

popularity is returning to beer can

collecting and is expanding to include

other beer-related items, like coasters,

labels, pint glasses from microbreweries,

and advertisements.

Swartz is also the secretary of the

Keystone Chapter of the Brewery

Collectibles Club of America. The

Keystone Chapter hosts an annual event

called the Spring Thaw, which brings

regional and national vendors and

collectors to Central Pennsylvania. The

event runs March 26-28, 2009, at the

Holiday Inn in New Cumberland from

9 a.m. until 2 p.m. March 28 of the

three-day event is the day that is open to

the public. The Spring Thaw will feature

more than 150 vendors of every type of

beer collectibles, including cans, posters,

bottle caps, and bottles. Visit

www.cansmartbeercans.com for more

information. ) )) )

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