About beer souvenirs collecting
Collecting as hobby penetrated a lot of years ago
even to brewery and brings to people besides fun, delight
even advice. It is proved
that bight collecting character of every hobby gradually grows to teaching character and in every collection is then a little
bit of fun, little bit of learning
and above all a lot of honest
and patient work. It is true
about collecting of brewery souvenirs
and history of brewery, which is very widening
hobby in a lot of countries. This collecting kinds which is known
under expert name ”Labologia” includes from quite wide
range of beer labels, beer
mats, crown caps, cans, glasses,
old beer bottles, barrels, openers and other articles and souvenirs to history of brewers
and brewery literature. Object of biggest interest of collectors are beer
labels probably because of easy
way to get them, and there is a lot
of them and they are not very
expensive. The first paper labels
came to use on beer bottles in 80-es years of 19th century in simple look. As the
time was going on, there were changes in quality, look and capacity and they became small graphic
works, which are visiting cards of breweries and they are making image of every
beer. In Slovakia and Czech
republic have special position old labels until
year 1948, which are for a lot of
collectors unattainable for little amount
of them and high price. Pointed
collections of labels form all
around the world consists even more than 300 000 pieces. According to big amount of them,
a lot of collectors specialized only to collecting of some states
only one motive. There is big interest in collecting of beer mats (coasters)
as will, which main function
is to keep table clean. First mats
were produced from wood as
other material. After some time
was produced mats from paper
mass and there were first advertisements
in year 1906. Mostly they were produced
and are produce even today with suppression
on one side in various shapes – from round through
square and various shapes. Besides advertising of breweries, we can
find on the other side of
two sided mats even various
interesting motives and topics. In
last years is big increase all around the
world collecting of beer cans. History
of beer cans
started in USA, where after some experiments
brewery Gottfried Krueger Brewing Co. from Newark
in year 1935 decided to start selling their
beer in cans. First beer cans
looked like today’s grocery’s wins and were opening
with openers for tins, lately
they looked like bottles and were closed by crown caps. In fifties of last
century compensate aluminium others used materials and colour suppression became high quality.
The way of
opening of cans in today’s shape was patented
in USA in year 1962. Beer is putting to cans
in almost 100 countries of the world
and in some countries are collecting organisation aimed only to collecting
beer cans. Their collecting requires quite space pretension, because amounts in collections are counting to thousands of pieces. Before invention of crown cap was used
shuts of bottles made of
cork, wood, porcelain with high rubber but
even other materials. First metal crown cap was patented
in USA in year 1892. With using of new type of closing came
revolution in producing of bottles of
course where was received uniform
norm for sizes and shapes of throat. Original
crown cap had 24 cuts, lately was this
amount reduced to 21 cuts and improved was high ting
of closing to today’s shape. Object of collecting
interest became crown caps from
moment when producers started to use advertisements on them, in some cases on the
inside of the crown as
well, tout it is often
problematic to keep them in collections, where everybody have to find the
best way. Our forefathers
used for drinking beer or even other drinks
jugs made of copper, tin
or lead. By discovery of producing of
glass set even prime of production of
glasses which observed even brewery. Gradually
became various shapes, sizes, and thickness of glass,
colour and look of glasses, which
play important role in culture of drinking
beer. We don’t know brewery
today, which doesn’t have their
own glasses with name of
brewery and they sent them to restaurants
or places where beer is drawing.
Part of collectors is specialized only to collecting of beer glasses
and we can find in their collections
hundreds of glasses of various
shapes, amounts and design. Historical old beer
bottles are not collected by a lot of collectors. Important for rising
of beer bottles
is year 1870, when miles right
was abolished, which limited even
distribution of beer from breweries.
Even in this time were used
return bottles, which were in 3 elementary kinds: with inscription corroded to glass, with poured inscriptions
and with special suppression on glass, for example aristocratic
coat of arms
of brewery. Collector has to know history of placing
of breweries, but even glass
works to determine how old is
exhibit and to table it to collection according to their own key.
It is not
easy to get these bottles of course,
but there are collectors mainly in Czech republic, who are owners of them. Fight
continuation to crown caps creates collecting
of beer openers. Their collecting is matter of
high circle of collectors and is supplement kind.
Sizes of collections for best collectors are courting to hundreds of pieces. There
exist various types of miscellaneous
materials, various sizes and shapes according to original ideas of produce.
Some openers are not only for
opening or closing of bottles, some
are united with key appendage or other practical object. Postcards with beer theme are supplement kind and the oldest come
from break of 19th
and 20th century. We
can divide them to 2 elementary groups – postcards with picture of
brewery and postcards with various beer
themes. Besides picture we can
find there some texts, songs,
caricatures and so. Shape is as a rule classical
rectangle, but we can find
even circles, ellipse. Some of
them we can
use duplicate and they can be
used even as a beer tray.
By postcards we can complete history
of some breweries
together with photographical material. Besides introduced elementary kinds can collectors devote to even some special kinds,
which are united with beer. There
are 5l barrels – party kegs, steins, mugs,
badges of breweries and with general beer theme,
advertisements brewery labers (enamelled, tin, artificial – mass, paper) popular
are pen with print, card calendars,
T-shirts, caps, posters but even
jokes about beer, bills and other materials. Special category is collecting of
facts and various documents about history
of breweries, but even literature about breweries or history of beer
and brewery. Even that collecting of brewery souvenirs
in hobby, we can find often in collections
some valuable materials and documents from history, which
are not available even for breweries
or museums. In
Slovakia is collecting of beer souvenirs
now a days well organised in collecting clubs (Bratislava,
Trenčín, Nitra, Žilina, Martin, Banská Bystrica, Rimavská Sobota, Košice,
Jablonica) and Slovak association
of history of brewery in Martin saves activity of them. |
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