Wednesday, May 18, 2011

My First eBay Can Purchase

When I decided to collect soda cans last month, the plan was to ask for cans from friends and family (since our household doesn't really drink soda), pick them up along the sides of the road or possibly stumble into caches of cans at family reunions, parks or other places I visit.  This was going to be a fun and free hobby.

So I just received my first eBay can purchase today.  Oops.  But I couldn't pass these up, check 'em out.  Back in the summer of 1987, Detroit was chosen as a test market for an alternative to the aluminum soda can... the plastic soda can.  The advantage of the plastic can was that plastic is simple to recycle.  But the disadvantage to this plastic can design was that it still had an aluminum lid, thus making recycling actually harder because the metal had to be separated from the plastic.


But for that summer, the people of Detroit could enjoy five New York Seltzer soda flavors:  black cherry, lemon & lime, peach, raspberry and root beer.  The plastic can concept was soon abandoned and the New York Seltzer soda discontinued. 

So last weekend I found an auction that had all five flavors of New York Seltzer soda in plastic cans.  I hit the purchase button and knew my collection would forever be different.  I received the cans today.  They did not disappoint.  And they weigh even less than I expected.

You can read a Los Angeles Times article about the cans here.

3 comments:

  1. I used to work at the 7-Up Bottling company in Phoenix, Arizona back in the late '80s. I used to collect soda cans. I had a set of those New York Seltzer cans. Those were the neatest things I had ever seen. Ahhhhh...those were the days. :)

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    1. They are definitely some of my favorite cans in my collection, too. It's funny you should comment on them because someone else emailed me about them this weekend. Here's a link he sent me of a plastic can still in use in 2010: http://www.drinkablereview.com/2010/10/elisha-aerated-water-lychee-flavor.html

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  2. It must not have been limited to Detroit. I bought mine at a convenience store and I live in Oregon .

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