The Beer Can Museum, located in East Taunton, Massachusetts

East Taunton, Massachusetts

East Taunton is a suburban neighborhood of Taunton, Massachusetts, United States.-Economy:East Taunton is home to Massassoit State Park which offers camping, mountain bike trails, and kayaking and fishing on the park's four main lakes, the largest of which is Lake Rico. Other lakes in the park...

, is a collection of more than 5,000 different beer can

Beverage can

A beverage can is a tin can designed to hold a specific portion of a beverage. Beverage cans are made of tin-plated steel or aluminium.- History :...

s, along with beer

Beer

Beer is the world's most widely consumed andprobably oldest alcoholic beverage; it is the third most popular drink overall, after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of sugars, mainly derived from malted cereal grains, most commonly malted barley and malted wheat...

 can folk art and crafts, beer can clothing, beer can telephones and radios, and a beer can and breweriana related library. The museum has been featured in such publications as The Cambodia Daily

The Cambodia Daily

The Cambodia Daily is Cambodia's first English-language daily newspaper. It was started in 1993 by Bernard Krisher, an American journalist. Krisher hired two young and relatively inexperienced journalists, Barton Biggs and Robin McDowell, as the paper's first editors. The first issue was published...

, The Boston Phoenix, and the Brockton Enterprise, and has also been mentioned in the Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Times

The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....

, The Taunton Daily Gazette

Taunton Daily Gazette

The Taunton Daily Gazette is a daily newspaper founded in 1848. Based in Taunton, Massachusetts, its coverage area also includes Berkley, Rehoboth, Dighton, Lakeville, Norton, and Raynham....

, The Patriot-Ledger

The Patriot Ledger

The Patriot Ledger is a daily afternoon newspaper published in Quincy, Massachusetts and serving the South Shore. Its circulation is 55,000 on weekdays and 63,000 for its Weekend edition which is published on Saturday mornings....

, Reader's Digest

Reader's Digest

Reader's Digest is a general interest family magazine, published ten times annually. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, its headquarters is now in New York City. It was founded in 1922, by DeWitt Wallace and Lila Bell Wallace...

 (May 2008), and the Austin American-Statesman

Austin American-Statesman

The Austin American-Statesman is the major daily newspaper for Austin, the capital city of Texas. It is an award-winning publication owned by Cox Enterprises. The Newspaper places focus on issues affecting Austin and the Central Texas region....

 (TX).

Contents

Cans dating back to the mid-1930s are on display, as are beer can oddities and obsolete and current trends in beer packaging (e.g. antique cone tops and the newly released alumabottles). The collection is private, but tours can

Can

Can may refer to:-Container:* Aluminum can* Steel can, an airtight tinplate container for storing food and other predominantly liquid products* Beverage can, a can designed to hold a single serving of a beverage* Oil can...

 sometimes be arranged by appointment.

The collection was started in 1978 by the museum's director and curator, Kevin Logan. The museum hosts an annual "Museumfest" in the summer, where recent contributors are treated to a barbecue, museum tours, and an awards ceremony.

The oldest can in the collection is a Krueger Ale can from the 1930s which is similar to the first beer can ever produced in 1935. On display as well are older cone tops (such as a Brockert Ale "J-Spout" can from Worcester, Massachusetts

Worcester, Massachusetts

Worcester is a city and the county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, as of the 2010 Census the city's population is 181,045, making it the second largest city in New England after Boston....

 and a Star Banner Ale cone top from Boston) and obsolete "flat top" cans from the early days of beer can production. The museum is enhanced by a significant collection of breweriana (beer related collectibles) such as hanging pub towels in the rafters, thousands of coasters or "beer mats", beer trays, and a bar displaying both colorful cans and beer glasses from around the world. Crocheted beer can hats from the 1970s, beer can transistor radios, and a beer can telephone are also on display, as are miniature beer cans used in dollhouse

Dollhouse

A dollhouse is a toy home, made in miniature. For the last century, dollhouses have primarily been the domain of children but their collection and crafting is also a hobby for many adults. The term dollhouse is common in the United States and Canada...

s. A unique 'pysanka

Pysanka

A pysanka is a Ukrainian Easter egg, decorated using a wax-resist method. The word comes from the verb pysaty, "to write", as the designs are not painted on, but written with beeswax...

' (painted Ukrainian style 'Heineken' egg) is also housed at the museum.

External links

• The East Taunton Beer Can Museum
• The Brewery Collectibles Club of America (formerly Beer Can Collectors of America)
• Krueger Beer and Ale
• Clipper Pale at Rusty Cans
• Llanelli Community Heritage Felinfoel Brewery and the first British beer cans