Can collecting is the

hobby A hobby is considered to be a regular activity that is done for enjoyment, typically during one's leisure time. Hobbies include collecting themed items and objects, engaging in creative and artistic pursuits, playing sports, or pursuing other ...

of collecting cans, both

aluminum Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...

and

tin plate Tinplate consists of sheets of steel coated with a thin layer of tin to impede rusting. Before the advent of cheap mild steel, the backing metal (known as "") was wrought iron. While once more widely used, the primary use of tinplate now is the ...

cans. There are many types of cans that can be collected from around the world, each with many different brands as well as brand variations and themes. Among the most popular cans to collect are soda ones, beer ones, and car oil ones, the latter of which are sometimes branded with well-known petrol company names. Other cans that may be considered as collectibles are milk cans coffee cans, syrup, salted peanuts, crayon and advertisement-oriented lithograph tins. Cans Collection at Work Office

Sometimes, supermarkets and petrol companies have used cans as ways to advertise; these types of cans are also sought after by can collectors. Can collecting can be exclusive to only one type of cans: for example, collectors may dedicate themselves to collecting beer, soda, food or oil cans only. But collectors may also dedicate themselves to collecting cans from all types.

History

While it is difficult to pinpoint when people started collecting cans as a hobby, it is estimated by some that the first beer can collections began around 1935. It is also estimated that one of the first beer can collections was begun by a group of

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

students and was later kept by one of those students. Royal Crown Cola started selling their products in "non-returnable" cans in the United States during the 1950s; their competitors

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

and

Pepsi Cola Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink with a cola flavor, manufactured by PepsiCo which serves as its flagship product. In 2023, Pepsi was the second most valuable soft drink brand worldwide behind Coca-Cola; the two share a long-standing rivalry ...

seemed reluctant to use cans at first during that era as their sodas were sold most commonly on glass bottles. Still, Coca-Cola decided to export sodas in cans to Asia, particularly

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and some other countries across the

Pacific rim The Pacific Rim comprises the lands around the rim of the Pacific Ocean. The '' Pacific Basin'' includes the Pacific Rim and the islands in the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific Rim roughly overlaps with the geological Pacific Ring of Fire. List ...

, with Pepsi soon following suit. By 1960, approximately 40 different soda brands sold sodas in about 820 million cans every year in the United States alone. Some experts believe this was when soda cans became collectible items.

Variations

There are many types of variations that make cans collectible. These include cans advertising celebrities, sports teams, new film releases, musical tours, and other international events such as the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

, countries, ideals and other companies and brands that are not related to the industry the can represents. Also, many times, brands that operate internationally offer cans in different languages or with other variations, depending on the regions in which they operate; these cans are also considered valuable collectable items by some collectors. During the 1980s, Coca-Cola launched a series of cans commemorating the countries in which that brand was sold; many collectors also consider those as collectibles. Cans can come in different sizes; soda cans can be given or bought in small (sometimes called "mini") sizes, given typically to patients and visitors at hospitals and sometimes to passengers at commercial airline flights, while, on the other hand, petrol companies have sometimes sold very large oil cans. The size of the can can also drive its value among can collectors and their desire to obtain the item.

Values

There are some online pages that keep track of collectable cans' values.

Records

Davide Andreani of Italy is in the

Guinness Book of World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

for having the most extensive collection of soda cans of one specific brand in the world, with over 20,000

cans in his collection (he, however, also owns cans of other brands, so he does not have the record for the largest exclusive Coca-Cola can collection, as explained below). According to a website named canmuseum.com, the largest collection of

cans belongs to Chris Cavaletti, also of Italy, who owned 12,402 Pepsi Cola cans from 81 countries as of 2022, while the largest exclusive collection of

soda cans belonged to Gary Feng of Canada with 11,308 variations of the Coca-Cola cans from 108 countries collected, with William B. Christensen of the United States owning the largest collection of beer cans with 75,000 from 125 countries and Allan Green, of the United States also, with the largest collection of wine cans, at 449.

References

External links