Birthday Haul

Last week I had another birthday.  And this year I got a few cans from my kids...

And this wasn't just a quick trip to the local Casey's.  Nope, these consist of steel cans and older aluminum cans.  Let's look at each one.

Wild West Sarsaparilla - I have a few of these already, but they're all variants.  This steel can (bottom-opened to preserve the pull-tab top) promotes it as the "First soft drink of the Old West".  And to be honest, I've always pronounced this flavor as "sassparilla".  Is it just me?  The first time I saw this can I wondered why they had all the extra letters in that word.

Graf's Cola - I didn't show the front of this steel can, but the back reveals the "Great American Inventors" of the Wright Brothers.  There's a nice pic with a great description of what made them famous.  They sure don't make cans like this anymore.

Pepsi-Cola - Next is an aluminum can featuring the Chicago's Navy Pier.  The can is from 1995.  It notes "Come join in the celebration of this Chicago landmark reborn.  Opening this summer."  I had no idea it had re-opened that year.  It was only a couple years later that I would make my one and only trip (so far) to Chicago and visit the Navy Pier.

G. Willikers - Well, the name says it all.  This aluminum can is the first of this brand in my collection.  It's grape.  Gee willikers, that's a boring flavor.

And that's my birthday haul.  Overall, it was a great year.  Thanks, kids.