Hi, Melinda--

It looks like it's true.  I did some poking around and there are a number of
newspaper articles that mention this story.  In January 1935, the Gottfried
Krueger Brewing Company of Newark, NJ, test marketed Krueger's Finest Beer
and Krueger's Cream Ale in cans for the first time in Richmond.  According
to the Memphis Commercial Appeal (2/2/93), the first cans--advertised as
''keg-lined''--were made by American Can Co., which is now the American
National Can Co. of Chicago.  They didn't have pop-tops; the cans were pried
open with a "church key" can opener.

I did some brief surfing and came up with the following site, which has
photos of the cans:

http://www.bcca.com/bccacan1.html

I'm sure there's a lot more out there!  Enjoy!

--Eric

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Melinda Skinner [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Wednesday, January 24, 2001 9:30 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Wondering
>
>
> I just came across the fact that, on January 24, 1935, the
> first beer in
> cans, "Krueger Cream Ale", was sold by the Kruger Brewing Company in
> Richmond, VA.  Has anybody heard of this brand or the company?
>
>
> Melinda Skinner  *
> <[log in to unmask]>
>
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