In 1975, at the age of five, I started collecting beer cans. I had found a Schlitz Tallboy behind a factory near my house in Norwalk Ohio. I thought the can was neat looking, so I brought it home. Soon after I found a full Blatz can along the railroad tracks. Then all of the Bicentennial cans came out. I was hooked, and luckily my parents liked beer, so I had a source for cans. My mom and dad were great supporters of anything my brother and I decided to collect. With the beer cans (Dave started collecting soon after), they bought every weird brand they could find, dutifully opened them from the bottom, rinsed them out, and turned them over to us. They even built us shelves in our rooms for display. Needless to say, over the years we have all drank some pretty nasty brews - the one drawback of collecting. I refuse to even try Malt Liquors anymore, because I am convinced these are made by wringing the brewery mops into a dirty vat... Light beers, dark beers, red beers. Ales, Lagers, Bocks, Pilsners. Even something called Barley Wine (horrible!). Small cans (6 oz.) big cans (10 litre). My cans (5000+ different) are currently filling up a good portion of the attic above my garage, with hopes of one day having a place to display them. My wife (Pam) has been supportive of this crazy hobby, too, although she hasn't tried much since a run-in with an English brew called Old Speckled Hen. Uggh! Over the years I have also picked up quite a few beer coasters, beer glasses, mirrors, and miscellaneous other beer themed items. About ten years ago I also started collect Anheuser-Busch ceramic steins. Very nice items, although many of them are quite costly.

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