(2 of 2)
While collectors acquire most of their beery booty by trading (one Bullfrog from the 1950s is worth a Schmidt City Club 1956 and a Canadian Ace 1958), they scour city dumps and out-of-the-way saloons for their relics. "There are things you learn how to do," says Rich La Susa, a Chicago Tribune makeup man, "like reading labels along the highway at 60 miles an hour—well, 55." And though the association frowns on buying and selling cans, the odd roadside treasure may be worth the hazard. A can of Soul, which was sold briefly in Watts after the Los Angeles ghetto erupted in 1965, has been priced by one antique shop at $250. Liquor Dealer McPherson recently had his 2,300-can collection appraised—at $10,000. Clearly, he who laughs while holding an old beer can, laughs last.