Old beer cans are far from garbage, Tenambit man Lindsay Watson says, they are pieces of history.
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The Australian Beer Can Collectors Association will hold its annual Can-A-Thon at Maitland Basketball Stadium this weekend.
The association’s only Maitland member, Lindsay Watson, said he was expecting collectors from across the nation to descend on the city for the event.
“We study beer cans and how they’ve evolved over the years and how production has changed over the years,” he said.
Mr Watson has more than 5000 cans on display at his home. He began to collect in 1975.
“My mother and father-in-law went to Tasmania and at the time you could buy little packs of Tasmanian beer. I didn’t even drink beer at the time so I kept them for many, many years,” he said.
“When I started back in the ’70s, I didn’t even know there was a club. It was only in 1982 that I found out there was nearly 1000 other people doing the same silly thing [collecting beer cans].”
The rarest beer can Mr Watson owns is one from the 1930s that is shaped in a similar form to a stubby, which he said was known as a cone top.
“They’re getting harder and harder to get now,” he said.
Brewing company Toohey’s has created a special commemorative can for the Maitland event which will be unveiled on Saturday, but won’t be available in stores.
The Can-A-Thon is held at a different location each year and is a chance for collectors to buy, trade and look at beer cans of all ages, shapes and sizes.
It was held in Queensland last year and will take place in Tasmania in 2017.
Members of the public will get a chance to see the antique and exotic beer cans between 1pm and 3pm.