As I read all these great postings on the Newsroom board, it becomes apparent that we have a great wealth of can information that needs to be organised and preserved. Kevin Lilek's work on OI cans has been priceless and it leaves me wishing for more.

I propose a continuation of what Kevin has started. We could do it in pieces......Pre-war flats (non OI)then onto Pre-war cones and then maybe the balance of IRTP cans and supplement. I have spoken with Kevin about this and and we would have permission to use his copywrighted format.

Any project like this has to start with a listing of cans. Obviously the USBC is a great resource. Then there is the lengthy (but fun) process of filling in the variation holes. Maybe some type of Excell format would help and could be shared or even posted. Verification is a problem. Just the list would be valuable and the start......to be continued

.........and the start that could lead to photography and even some type of book. I believe the economics of a hard bound book are tough but I envision printed pages that could be placed (and changed) chronologically in a binder. Also a numbering system that would allow for updates. Ther are specialists that could, collectivley, document 95% of the cans already. Any thoughts?

ABC

What may work would be the submission of "pages" for posting on the website. The "pages" could be prined individually and put into a binder. There would be no cost, just efforts.

Good idea Ed. I will get it started and try to bolster a little more interest. Using an Excell spreadsheet I have begun to compile a list of IRTP (and WF)flats using the BCU. Quite an impressive group. Perhaps I can share it with some can buddies and add some variations. There is a program which allows a group of people to share/edit a spreadsheet.

http://www.securesheet.com/

For now I will just "pass it around".

ABC

Andy,

Can/will you be including photos? Minor (okay, miniscule) variations included? I'm not 100% sure what you're trying to do but I think it's a great idea. How about the composite that the Lewandowski twins worked on? It has just about every can known, except for a few new ones that have surfaced. They went down to very minor variations. No pics though.

Keep us posted - I'd like to help out. Count me in on the WF cans!

Steve

however you get it started , get randy k in on from the beginning!!

out


Dan

Steve

The long term goal is to picture the cans in a format similar to Kevin's book but I just want to start with a list. I have never seen the list that the twins created but it sure would be a great place to start.

ABC

Thanks for the vote of confidence Dan! Frankly, composite text listings are of just minor interest to me, what I want to see is pictures! My preference would be an online, electronic reference, showing all four sides of every known beer can variation. Basically, similar concept to what I have done for Michigan Beer Cans, www.mbcinfo.com, just extended for all US beer cans. Ideally, something web hosted, freely available (BCCA/chapters pay to annually web host) for both collector and non-collector alike. We need something major electronic for these college kids to spark their interest in collecting, and hardcopy books just don't cut it (why carry a book when you could look up pages on your Palm or web enabled cell phone)?

Always electronic (people could print individual pages if they so desired) so never a completed project, and extensible numbering system (not possible to insert new cans in page-item type of numbering) so minor variations can be added when they are newly discovered. No need for book supplements, and easy to fix mistakes almost immediately.

However, right now I have the Rustlings archive to finish, and am helping another collector with HTML generation for another beer can project (insert tabs). I am also considering scanning of the BCCA News Reports as part of a multi-year BCCA project.

Rand Lindsly and myself are going to discuss some of the above at Western States this Friday/Saturday.

-Randy

Off topic, butt I couldn't resist. Andy starts a string on the RB Brain Trust, I pick up a copy of The Onion and playing at The Smart Bar in Chicago? Andy Caldwell:

Andy, look for a copy of the Twin's work in your mail. It'll be on CD-rom in MS Excel format. It'll blow you away!

No, it isn't 100% perfect, but it's the most complete listing of US cone top and flat top cans ever compiled. I haven't edited it at all. I know Randy K did some work with the Michigan cans but I'll send you the all original Lewandowski unedited listing.

Steve

Boy, the Lewandowski's full spreadsheet a major beast! If you were to actually print this in landscape mode it would generate 1,850 pages!!! They obviously spent a major amount of effort in compiling this.

Here is a link to the Michigan section which I edited, correcting mistakes and adding new variations. I have also included a new column with a HREF link to the pictured can on my MBC website. While a very useful list, still hard to read without seeing the actual pictures.

-Randy

The "other" Andy Caldwell is a San Fransisco DJ/Producer. I am quite fond of his stuff...........for obvious reasons.

Looking forward to the list guys. I like the online concept. I forsee the day when someone says....."do you have this variation?" and the reply is "let me check my PDA"

ABC

Hey Andy - its' more like my PDA (or PBCA personal beer can assistant) bluetooths your PDA to exchange trader lists and they propose deals that we hash out over a beer :)