Welcome to the RUSTYCANS web site, dedicated to providing information about beer can collecting in general as well as about my collection and collecting interests. I have designed this site to have as much information on collecting beer cans and the history of beer cans as possible--and I update rustycans continuously--so please check back often!
This site has several sections...
Collecting / Dumping/ History / Cans of the Month
Collecting
Here you'll find information on clubs, collecting cans, fake cans you'll see on eBay, breweriana shows, links to other useful sites, and other information about this great hobby. Interested in beer labels? Check my page showing how you can order Bob Kay's new label books. NEW: Beware worthless "reproduction" or "novelty" cans.
Dumping
Beer cans are found everywhere, in dumps in the woods, in crawl spaces, in walls of houses being remodeled, in attics, under insulation. If you have found a beer can, please contact me, I'd love to know about it! Have you found an old dump on some property with old beer cans in it, please let me know! EMAIL ME PLEASE!
History
Since the first beer can was sold in Richmond, Virginia in 1935, they've undergone a lot of changes and a lot of brands that were once big sellers no longer exist. The pages in this section contain some of the history of these obsolete cans and vanished breweries. I am also interested in the history of the Temperance Movement (especially in Virginia) and Prohibition, so you'll find some pages on those topics as well. Check my site map to see all the history pages!
Cans of the Month
Every month I write a short history of a specific beer can and the brewery that produced it. I started in the Spring of 2003 and now have over 60 different histories written.
Trading
I prefer to trade for new cans for my collection. Fellow collectors can check out my traders and want lists here.
About Me
A member of the Beer Can Collectors of America since 1977 (member #13056), I have been collecting beer cans since about 1975 (with a long time out for graduate school). I mainly collect flats (and a few cone tops and zips) from the northeastern quarter of the US. That way I save beer cans from the "rust belt" (I'm from Ohio), New England (my wife is a New Hampshire native), as well as from Maryland and Virginia (where I live now).
A professional historian with a doctorate in American history, I am an instructor at Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia. In my free time I am also a member of a chapter of the Beer Can Collectors of American called the Rusty Bunch. We go out into the woods with metal detectors looking for dumps with old beer cans in them. I am also a member of the American Breweriana Association, the National Association [of] Breweriana Advertising, the Potomac Bottle Collectors, and the Merry Bocksters, and Capitol City Chapters of the BCCA. And, what the heck, I am now a member of the Federation of Historical Bottle Collectors. (Club links open new windows)
Press
Mentions of Rustycans.com (or of my collection) in the press (including blogs). (each link opens a new window)
Mentioned on the NOVA-Antiques Blog (August 3, 2008)
Mentioned on the Box Vox blog (August 12, 2008)
As seen in the Baltimore Examiner, December 4, 2006
As heard on Beer Radio! February 11, 2006 Beer Radio
"Where did Ballantine Beer Go?" Columbia News Service, February 2006.
"The Ale Trail" The Boston Phoenix, May 27, 2005.
The Washington Post, February 2004.
Problems?
Please report any problems, broken links, etc. Thanks!
