Vintage Beer Cans (Beer Tins) of the British Isles
In the British Isles, vintage beer cans were produced from 1936 to about the late 1960's. The first beer can in the British Isles was produced by the Metal Box Company for the Felinfoel Brewery in Wales. This can was a 9 2/3 ounce cone top can, which is shown here. All beer cans produced in the British Isles before World War II were cone top cans. The shape of these cans is similar to the Brasso cans of today. These cans had a crown bottle cap on the top and opened just like a bottle. During the war, most of these cans were melted down to be made into parts for the war effort, which makes them somewhat difficult to find and valuable to collectors today. After the war, the canning industry took some time to recover, but by 1955 The Metal Box Company was making 1.5 million beer cans a year. In March of 1958 there were 53 British beers available in cans, and by 1959 there were 117 brands canning their product. Types of beer which were canned during this period were Lager, Stout, Sweet Stout, Ale, Pale Ale, Export, Export Ale, India Pale Ale, Pils, Sparkling Beer, Lime Cordial and Lager, Shandy, Ginger Beer, Brown Ale, Light Ale, Pilsner, Pilsener, Export Pale Ale, Export Ale, Nut Brown Ale, Golden Ale, Dutch Lager, Export Lager, Castle Ale, Export Stout and Export Beer. There were hundreds of different English, Scottish, Irish and Welsh vintage beer cans produced over a three decade period. Many brands which were known to exist from old brewery journals are extremely rare and valuable to collectors today. These brands include Reid's, Beverley's, Good Health, Hammerton's, Jumbo Stout, Fremlin's, Sportsman's Ale, Sun Bright, Golden Hop, Jubilee, Trunch, Castle, Charter, Falcon, Gold Star, Mayflower, Hibbert, Jeffrey's, Jubilee, Mill, Tennents, Simonds, Nimmo's, Phoenix, Pirate, Wertha, Brittania, Double Century, Jenners, Machlachlan's, Blair's, Bernard's, Drybrough's, My, Treble Top, Piraat, Taylor Walker, Cannon, Wee Willie, Wee Murray, Usher's, Murray's, Castletown, George's, Broadland, Steel Coulson, Tollycan and Truman's, among others.
Identifying vintage cans is relatively easy if you know what to look for. The cans have a heavy steel construction, unlike the lightweight aluminium cans of today. They can also be identified by the type of top they have. The Felinfoel can above is a good example of a vintage cone top can. Another type of vintage can is the flat top beer can. A flat top was an early can which required a special opener which was used to puncture holes in the top in order to get the beer out. It was not until 1962 that the ring pull was devised, so all cans prior to the invention of the ring pull would either be cone top or flat top cans. If you want to determine whether your cans could have some value, look at the tops. If they have a cone or if they required an opener to get at the contents, or if they have a zip tab opening (see the illustration below), then it is likely they will be worth money. Just how much will depend on the brand, label design and condition of the can. If your cans have some dents, scratches or rust, don't assume they will have no value. Some rare brands and label variations will have value in nearly any condition. The best thing to do is to take a few photos and email them to jefflebo@aol.com to get an idea of value.
The Tennents Brewery of Edinburgh and Glasgow Scotland was one of the most prolific producers of vintage flat top beer cans throughout the late 1950's through the 1960's. Iconic sets such as the English Series and Scottish Series featured full colour photographs of notable places throughout England and Scotland from 1959 to 1964. More than eighty different scenes have been documented. Later came sets such as Ann on Vacation, Ann's Day, Ann, Housewives Choice and Lager Lovelies, which featured photographs of beautiful women, many of whom were top models in the UK. These classic flat top and early zip tab cans are highly sought after by collectors today. These special series cans were produced in Stout, Sweet Stout, Lager, Pale Ale and Export. The cans were mostly produced in 16 ounce (440 ml), but some were produced in 12 ounce cans for the overseas market.
Early zip and tab top cans from the 1960's and early 1970's are also considered to be vintage cans. To date these types of cans, look at the sides (or body) of the can. If the body of the can is straight from the bottom to the top, rather than the top and bottom being "necked in" to allow for a smaller diameter end, then these would be the early ring pull cans, many of which are of interest to collectors. Another thing to look for is on the top. If the can has an opening device and the hole where the beer comes out is flared like the letter T, then this would be an example of an early zip tab can. The zip tabs are much more sought after than the standard pull tab cans, which came later, around the early to mid-1970's.
The Metal Box Company was the principal manufacturer of vintage beer cans in the British Isles. Some designs were manufactured in England to be exported to other countries such as the Amstel 9 2/3 ounce flat top for Holland and the Castle 9 2/3 ounce flat top for Rhodesia. Metal Box had a virtual monopoly in British beer can production from 1936 to the late 1960's. Thankfully, many Metal box employees saved examples of early beer cans or unrolled flat sheets or "body blanks", which has been very helpful in helping to identify many of the cans which were produced and can be enjoyed by collectors today.
The following is a list of all British breweries which are known to have canned their product in vintage beer cans:
ENGLAND
Allied Breweries, Ansells Brewery, Arthur Guinness Son & Co, Barclay Perkins & Co (Barclays), Bass Charrington, Bass Mitchells & Butlers, Bass Ratcliff & Gretton, Bristol Brewery Georges & Co, C. G. Hibbert & Co (Mayflower), C. Machen & Hudson (Beaver), Carter Milner & Bird, Charrington & Co (Charringtons), Charrington United, Courage Brewing Co, Courage & Barclay, Courage, Barclay & Simonds (Barclays), E. Lacon & Co, Fremlins Brewery, Fuller, Smith & Turner, Graham’s Lager, H. & G. Simonds Co, Hall & Woodhouse (Badger), Higson’s Brewery, Hope & Anchor Breweries, The Hull Brewery Co, Ind Coope (Double Diamond), Ind Coope & Allsopp (Allsopps), John Groves & Sons, Kenward & Court, Mackeson & Co, Mann Crossman & Paulin, Mitchells & Butlers, Morgan's Brewery Co, Northampton Brewery Co, Phipps Northampton Brewery Co, Red Tower Lager Brewery, Samuel Smith Old Brewery, Skol Lager, South London Brewery, Southside Brewery Co, Tetley Walker, Thos. W. Farrimond (Farrimonds), Threlfall Chesters, Tollemache & Co, Truman Brewery (Truman's), Truman Hanbury Buxton & Co, Trunch Brewery, Watney Combe Reid & Co (Reid's), Watney Mann (Watney's), Whitbread & Co, Worthington & Co
ISLE OF MAN
Castletown Brewery
SCOTLAND
Blair & Co (Blair's), Drybrough & Co (Drybrough's), George Younger & Son (Youngers, Younger's of Alloa, Husky, Treble Top, Sweetheart Stout), J. & R. Tennent (Tennents), James Aitken & Co (Aitkens), John Jeffrey & Co (Jeffreys), Maclachlans, Robert Younger, Scottish Brewers, Steel Coulson & Co, Tennent Caledonian Breweries (Tennents), Thomas & James Bernard (Bernards), Thomas Usher & Son (Usher's), United Caledonian Breweries, Wm. McEwan & Co (McEwan's), William Murray & Co (Murrays, Wee Murray), William Younger & Co. (Youngers, Wee Willie).
WALES
The Felinfoel Brewery Co, Lassell & Sharman Brewery, W. B. Mew Langton & Co (Mews)
Below is a pictorial history of vintage beer cans of England, Scotland and Wales. If you have any of these cans in any condition please email me at jefflebo@aol.com. Thank you and enjoy!
British 10 Ounce Cone Top Beer Cans - England, Scotland and Wales
British 9 2/3 Ounce Flat Top Beer Cans
British 12 Ounce Cone Top Beer Cans
British 16 Ounce Flat Top Beer Cans
A Photo Gallery of Early UK Beer Can Advertisements
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