Saw this article on History.com today: First Canned Beer Goes On Sale (1935) Prepping a celebratory can now...
Interesting! Paging @jesskidden to hear some of the details of this one. I remember when Old Tankard was brought back by Pabst (and quickly/stupidly killed off) they had a cute marketing blurb on the side of how it was one of the first beers to be canned using "keglined cans" (whatever that means).
Yeah, Pabst was the first big/national brewers to can, only a few months after Krueger. "Keglined" was the trademarked name of the vinyl lining American Can Co. used, developed IIRC by Union Carbide. Not sure how many "faithful Krueger drinkers" there were in Richmond, VA - I'd always read they picked a distant market in case the test didn't go well, it wouldn't affect their primary markets in NJ, NY and N.E. Somehow I doubt this. Krueger just wasn't that big AND no brewer would be selling beer to competing distributors in the same marketing region... The Brewers Almanac says there were over 15,000 licensed beer wholesalers in 1935.
The first canned beer I remember as a kid in the 70s was Goebel’s. I used to take out the garbage for the old guy next door, one can was always filled with Goebel’s empties
No, they came out about 6 months later, first from American Can Co's competitor, Continental Can Co. They were designed to appeal to brewers who did not want to buy new canning equipment, since existing bottling lines could be easily retrofitted to run the cone-tops, which were sealed with the same crown cap that bottles used. Pabst's cross-town rival, Schlitz, was among the earliest cone top canners.
I CAN't believe that I forgot about National CANned Beer Day! Rest assured, The CANQuest (tm) drank a CANned beer that day (just like every day). I am now marking it on my calendar for next year.
I have used woodyChANdler in the past, but like e e cummings, I have an aversion to upper-case letters.
it's an outrage that the modern day inventor of the 16 oz can craze didn't remember the anniversry of the original. The humanity.
I blew it! However, I have held Krueger's green & orange CANs at Jeff Lebo's before, so that has to count for something. I CANnot take the blame for the "craze" of which you speak. I was quite CANtent with the 12-fl. oz. variety & beCAN this undertaking as a leveling CANcept in that everyone has access to CANned beers. That is why I eschew any CANned beer that requires standing in line to procure. CANs for the people! Don't miss out on the upCANming Hula in the Coola Day on 01 Febrewary, when you stuff the cooler full of things that will inspire you to shimmy & shake off the winter blues for at least one day! I CAN't forget that one.
Can't really invent a "craze" without the item itself and Schlitz (which obviously thought very highly of it ) gets credit for the first 16 oz. aka "half quart" beer cans on the US market. ... followed quickly by local Milwaukee competitors Pabst and Blatz, Burgie! and Lucky Lager out west and Schaefer and Ballantine on the east coast.
