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"Arrayed in kaleidoscopic
precision, a sea of painted, weathered metal, these little steel and aluminum vessels are a wonder to behold".
The Boston Phoenix on the East Taunton Beer
Can Museum
HAPPY 75TH BIRTHDAY, BEER CAN! (JAN.24,2010) WOOT WOOT HOLLA
| Beer Can Lighters and more |
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| Crowntainer from the estate of Israel Marks |
Welcome to the East Taunton Beer Can Museum, South of Boston, as seen in Reader's Digest. We can
now be reached at www.beercanmuseum.org. How fun is that URL? The curator was interviewed recently by German Public Radio
on the occasion of the beer can's 75th birthday (Jan. 24), as well as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's Dave White,
from the 'Afternoon Show', on the beer can's illustrious beginnings. Many thanks to Mark Brown of Hyannis, Mass. for helping
us raise money for Curt's Pitch for ALS by winning a VIP tour in a charity auction. Thanks to Helena Chandler for both a
great Icelandic can (Polar Beer!) as well as some interesting Scottish bottles. Thanks go out to Bruce Keith for 4 great Primo
Hawaiian Beer glasses from the 1970's. Thank you, as well, to Harvey Berliner for a 1954 Schlitz Half-Pint flat top, found
in a wall of his home and now residing in the Beer Can Museum. Much appreciated, Harv! Recently we were happy to answer
a question for a History Channel producer who was working on a show about the history of canning. .
| Cans and more cans |
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| The Beer Can Museum! |
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| Joel Veak Photo |
"No one is quite sure how many of these oddball exhibits exist, because many are set up in private
homes, open by appointment only. Officially, the Institute of Museums and Library Services in Washington classifies them as
"collections of curiosities," not educational enough to gain true museum status. But some academics are not so quick to dismiss
them as random junk."
"There's something about
bringing [ordinary objects] together as a collection that lets you see a phenomenon in a way you wouldn't otherwise.... And
there's something about the relentless focus of really hard-core collectors that's impressive and intriguing in its own right,"
said Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, a professor at New York University who has written extensively about the interplay between
food and culture.
"What the Museum of Modern
Art does in classifying paintings by genre and period--that's the same thing that the Mustard Museum or The Beer Can Museum
or the nut museum is doing," Steiner said. "Only, unlike modern minimalist art, these museums are dealing with something that
everyone can relate to."
(The Los Angeles Times; Los Angeles, Calif.; Oct 11, 2002; Page 1. Stephanie
Simon)
"An awe inspiring array".
The Boston Phoenix, June 2, 2005, on 'The East Taunton Beer Can Museum' "Highly
Recommended" - - - - Refugios Magazine on the East Taunton Beer Can Museum, Dominican Republic, January 2010
| A Taunton flag featured on Iron City can! |
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| from the Silver City Bulletin,Taunton, MA |
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| photos: Rick Foster |
Week of March 1st, 2010...
Happy Almost Spring from all of us at the Beer Can Museum in East Taunton, MA! And Happy Birthday to both the curator's
wife (Jan. 3rd) and the Beer Can itself (Jan. 24th)! We completed an interview with German Public Radio last month - it should
air in Germany in January to celebrate the 75th birthday of the beer can. We gave a nice VIP tour to Jim Boyd and his two
sons Jimmy and John recently. Thanks to John for a nice piece of art he donated to the museum! Museumfest 09 was a smashing
success! We enjoyed a nice trek out to see the Hallamore Clydesdales in Lakeville, Ma this year. We also gave several museum
tours, relaxed by the pool, and grilled up a record number of bratwurst. Thanks to all the museum friends that came by.
We recently finished up our second appearance in the Sons of Sam Horn Curt's Pitch for ALS Auction; and we raised another
nice sum for the charity and will be giving a VIP tour to the lucky winner later this month.
Many new beer cans are making their appearances on the museum shelves! You can now follow the East Taunton Beer Can Museum
on Twitter (@beercanmuseum) if you're into Tweeting.
We have added our newest Hall of Fame can, from Austria, to the Hall...hope you like it.
Thanks to the fine people at Reader's Digest for including our humble Beer Can Museum in a fun quiz on page 160 (May 08 issue)
- and to the folks at 'Fortune' magazine, who gave us a photo credit for a Generic Beer Can that they included in the August
'08 issue. We also helped out Polish TV station TVN with their program "Dzien Dobry TVN" (Good Morning TVN); they are doing
a segment on beverage cans and we sent them some images for use on the show!
Enjoy your virtual tour of the East Taunton Beer Can Museum!
Thank you to the Anheuser-Busch Archives for sending along some great pieces of breweriana for the museum.
Thanks also to the Miller Brewing Company's Archivist for a fantastic 1967 air sealed white flat top can for the museum. Great
stuff indeed!Recently the'Cambodia Daily' newspaper included some quotes from the curator on the hobby of collecting breweriana.
'The Cambodia Daily' is one of the truly free presses in that country (the government has threatened to shut them down
in the past)and we were honored to be interviewed for what turned out to be a front page article on beer can collecting. The
museum was also mentioned in a recent Boston Phoenix, so check it out online when you get a chance. (Google 'The Ale
Trail' to find it. Thanks go out to Joel Veak Photography for sharing some museum pics with us for use on the site. Check
out our ETBCM Blog when you have a minute to spare(see out 'links' page). A special thank you to Montana's own Reuben
Cochran for a great donation of some of Alcoa's alumabottles or 'cabottles'. The Moose Drool container looks great in
the museum's entrance.
The second edition of"Massachusetts Curiosities" is in bookstores now and the Beer Can Museum is featured in a full page
write-up. Thanks to Globe-Pequot Press for publishing this fine work - and thanks to Erik Sherman for thinking of us as he
searched the Commonwealth for 'curiosities!' You can now E-mail the museum curator at beercanmuseum@gmail.com . (If
you are a BCCA member or a museum contributor and would like a tour of the museum click on the 'contact the curator link and
we'll talk) Now, on with the show.
We recently added some new selections to the Beer Cans in Literature Page. Don't miss them!
E-mail any of your own contributions for possible inclusion on the page.
Life is good, at least in the insulated microcosm known as ETBCM!! Some days I'm so overwhelmed by the richness of life,
ya know what I mean!?
Thanks to Los Angeles Times' writer Stephanie Simon for giving our fine museum a mention in an article on the Mount Horeb
Mustard Museum in Wisconsin. The article was picked up by the Austin (Texas) American-Statesman, too, and as a result the
curator has heard from many people across the country including collectors, wayward travellers, and people just wanting to
check the value of cans found in their basements!
FYI - The Beer Can Museum is located in a private residence and tours are by appointment only for museum contributors, members
of the BCCA, and friends/family of the curator. Until I retire and have a separate space to call home for the museum, please
enjoy the VIRTUAL tour.
| Alumabottles or Cabottles - Go Red Sox! |
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| On a tour at Museumfest '08 |
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Museumfest is our annual open house.
The first Museumfest took
place in 2001 and attendees made a trek to McCoy Stadium in Rhode Island to watch the Pawtucket Red Sox. Museumfest 2002 took
place on July 13th, '02. Brats, Beers, and fishing at Massasoit State Park made this day memorable to say the least. Museumfest
2003 took place on July 12th of 2003 and featured canoe adventures on Lake Rico and grilled s'mores! 2004's bash featured
wiffleball, canoeing, and the horseshoe pit. Museumfest '05 featured horseshoes, an outdoor movie for the kids in the pool,
and a record turnout. The '06 bash featured 'Bolo Golf'as well as another classic cake provided by Bob Lemieux! '07 featured
more paddling adventures in Massasoit State Park, and '08 brought back the 'mist machine' by the pool and featured 5 V.I.P.
tours. Museumfest '09 brought a record turnout and a trip to visit the Hallamore Clydesdales in Lakeville,MA. Door prizes
are always a big hit and guests leave with commemorative cans, scratch tickets, and more great prizes!
| Jim Boyd and his two sons |
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| VIP tour, Sept. 09 |
| A Beer Can in different production stages |
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Get comfortable and enjoy a relaxing tour of the greatest beer can site
on the internet. You have finally found the East Taunton Beer Can Museum! Life is good!
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| Our only Tunisian can! (Joel Veak Photography) |
Fun Beer Can Museum Facts and Figures: Number of full steel cans from Papua New Guinea:
1. Number of cans featuring baseball great Roberto Clemente: 2. Number of coasters: Too many to count. Number
of times a parrot has gone to the bathroom on the floor of the museum: 1. Number of beer glasses on the bar = approx 15. Number
of times neighborhood kids have knocked over some portion of the collection = 8! Fun fact: The Beer Can Museum holds
both a piece of the Statue of Liberty as well as a piece of Yankee Stadium (even though I'm a Red Sox fan)! Number of
pub towels hanging from the rafters: 3. Hilda's salary-18K per year plus free admission (except on Thursday's when she pays
half price!) She also gets 2 weeks vacation (not paid) when she goes searching for cans in remote countries across the sea.
Hilda is the official ticket seller at the museum but doesn't show up for work much. Some say she's a figment of the curator's
imagination but I say she's half of the museum staff and that's saying something. I guess.
Thanks to my gorgeous wife, Maryellen
Logan, for not tossing these cans into the recycling bin week after week. She is the greatest!
Why do I collect
beer cans? Fair question. Beer cans are pretty fascinating really. The Beer Can Archeology Museum might be a better name for
my collection, since many of these cans tell stories about American and World History and their values at certain points
in time. I have an extensive Bicentennial section, a sports wing, a huge foreign can section, and some cans dating back to
just after prohibition. The designs of some of these cans show great creativity in some cases and showcase great athletes,
actors (John Wayne Coors series), and patriots (George Washington, Sam Adams). You'll see just a few examples on these pages!
So sit back, pop open a can of beer and enjoy the tour!! Please Drink Responsibly. Even though
I collect beer cans it takes me a good month and a half to go through a case of beer; so to answer the obvious question, NO,
I didn't drink all those cans of beer!
Cheers,
Kevin Logan, a/k/a K-Lo and Kevbo (your curator
and tour guide)
'Superior' Beer tray from Mexico! (Thanks, Scott!)
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