Know anyone who collects beer cans? If so they may want to head to Albuquerque, NM this weekend.
The Albuquerque Convention Center is hosting this year's CANvention between August 29th-31st. This convention is put on by the Brewery Collectibles Club of America featuring all kinds of different beer cans from across the world. Collectors come to buy, sell and trade. This group even a magazine called Beer Cans & Brewery Collectibles.
Who knew?
Jeff Lebo for one. He's said to have the largest beer collection in the world with over 87,000 beer cans he stores at his vacation home in Pennsylvania. Jeff started collecting when he was 13. Now, his collection is worth $1.6 million. Hobbies can pay off after all. Jeff, though, says he's not selling any of his cans. See some pictures of the collection here. You can even stay there if you want and sleep amongst the collection.
Joe Prin is also a collector. He's amassed about 12,500 cans. He stores this in his Idaho garage he calls the Can Cave.
The Idaho Statesmen writes, The approximately 11,000 aluminum, steel and tin vessels from United States breweries make this the largest beer-can collection in Idaho, Prin says. He has organized it alphabetically, chronologically and by brand and brewery.
The beer can dates back to January 24, 1935 when Krueger's Finest Beer and their Cream Ale went on sale in Richmond, VA. People have been collecting them since. You can buy old cans on ebay and there's even a beer can appraisal site! See, there's big business around beer and cans. Cheers to that.