Who remembers how beer was served??

OK, so we all know beer comes in a 12 oz aluminum can:

And some of us (I'd guess about half) remember when the pull tabs were removable:

But before that, there was something else...

This little baby has not seen the light of day for 73 years. I found it today inside a wall built in 1942:

It's made of steel, not aluminum. And it doesn't have a pull tab:

I have vague memories of cans like this. Anybody else??

Notice the State of GA collected $ .045 for the privilege of a cold one.

But taxes were also collected locally. The City of Thomasville, GA had a beer tax of $ .05 per can, and put little tax stickers on the bottom to prove they were paid. Just like the Tea Tax in Boston!

Apparently the boss was just fine with the mason's inability to walk straight, as long as they could build a wall!

Pull tabs I remember. I even remember making chains out of them. Steel cans I vaguely remember.

Taxes? Oh yes, those I remember. My ass still hurts. April 15 wasn't that long ago.

Cool find.

A 9.5 cent tax in 1942 would be, what, close to a buck today?

Hey, that's pretty stinking cool! I honestly had no idea there was a can evolution before the pull tabs.

Dr. Hess wrote: A 9.5 cent tax in 1942 would be, what, close to a buck today?

Yeah, not sure if they were 2 separate taxes, or if the 4 1/2 cents was included in the 5 cents.

It was shortly after prohibition, so maybe they just taxed the E36 M3 out of the stuff.

Dr. Hess wrote: A 9.5 cent tax in 1942 would be, what, close to a buck today?

If that's so, it's no wonder that moonshine remained popular after prohibition ended.

Pull tabs I remember, the other ones I did not know about.

thought this was going to be about how you used to be able to go get a beer that didn't have a lemon or orange on the rim of the glass or a lime shoved in the top of the bottle. buncha nancies drinking fruity beer...

Brick masons drinking rusty beer on the job...

...'dems not nancies.

SVreX wrote: Apparently the boss was just fine with the mason's inability to walk straight, as long as they could build a wall!

We just finished a major rip out and install of all new intelligent lighting at work.. the amount of beer cans we found in the ceiling 30 feet above the floor was astounding

I remember opening off-brand soda and juice cans like that in the very early seventies.

I also remember pull tabs. A lot of people would pull the tabs off and drop them into the can. I remember hearing horror stories about people accidentally swallowing them and subsequently being told never to do that. As kids, we would pick up stray pull tabs that we found on the street and making chains out of them.

There was also a short lived opening style that came along between the throw away pull tabs and the ones that are common now. It was probably around 1974 or so and the soda cans had two pressed circular buttons on them, one big and one small. You would just push them in with your thumb, starting with the small one to relieve the pressure and create a vent, and then the larger one to drink out of. They went away very quickly, as people were slicing up their thumbs on the sharp edges.

Oh yes, Church Keys I remembers...

mad_machine wrote:

SVreX wrote: Apparently the boss was just fine with the mason's inability to walk straight, as long as they could build a wall!

We just finished a major rip out and install of all new intelligent lighting at work.. the amount of beer cans we found in the ceiling 30 feet above the floor was astounding

Funny you should mention it...

We demo'ed a concrete slab floor, which had pretty good cover in a back corner under the roofline.

There were a LOT of beer cans in that concrete.

Datsun1500 wrote: I used to find these when I was a kid in the early 70s. As in as empty cans, not as in in the fridge.

What is that E36 M3, brake fluid??

I remember both the pull tab and the church keys. Oil cans use to B that way. I still have those spout things you would use to plunge in to the oil cans when they were actual cans. Thought they were so much better than church keys but they would always leek a bit.

I'm not sure I'm old enough to read this thread.
(And I turn 32 in a month)

Out of a vending machine in the barracks :)

Datsun1500 wrote: I used to find these when I was a kid in the early 70s. As in as empty cans, not as in in the fridge.

When my brother and I were kids, we used to collect beer cans- and had a bunch this shape- as in actual shape, and not condition. The ones we had were very rusty.

They were old versions of this beer- (my dad's family are Yoopers)

In the 70's, as a kid, Hi C was served similarly.

stroker wrote: Oh yes, Church Keys I remembers...

Same here. I barely remember my dad and his buddies popping cans with those things. The pull tab chains were popular when I was in high school.

Then there was the Chug A Mug:

Hungary Bill wrote: Hey, that's pretty stinking cool! I honestly had no idea there was a can evolution before the pull tabs.

dang kids …

I still remember the revolutionary new pull tabs coming out … back in the day, being able to one hand crushing your beer can was a actual feat

there were a few variations .. I remember Coors (brought back from the west) that had little round punch holes that you'd pop with your thumb … tiny one for air in, and larger one for drinking

Pepsi products in Kanada used the 2 button cans well into the 80s. We also had 280ml cans for all pop into the late 80s. We didn't get the 355s until I was in highschool. I remember going to Duluth as a kid and getting a can of A&W root beer in a 355ml can. My little mind was blown.

There must be a joke about German electronics in there somewhere. Blinker fluid perhaps?

You can still get beer that requires a Churchkey.

Chruchkey Beer

Churchkey Can Co. Flat Top Beer Can from Churchkey Can co. on Vimeo.