Every Border Batch session was a social event. They were nearly all hosted by the local collector who
usually had everyone over to his or her home for beer, snacks and to see their collection. Krauses,
Pofahls, Palmers, Rabenhorsts, Miners, Smiths, Luecks, Connors, Lammers, Bonnerups and others that
are no longer coming to mind. Drink beer
and talk smart during the entire trade
session then repeat at someone’s home.
Trade sessions could be very
rewarding, but then there was dumping.
What could compare to finding that
mother lode of cans that someone had
discarded years before. “Rust is a must”.
“A rusty can is an honest can”. I had
about 5,000 cans on my shelves and a lot
of them were very honest cans. Jeff, my
son, has recently gotten into collecting
and is bringing back some of those
memories. He called and asked what
kind of acid I had used to remove rust. It took some head scratching until I could recall that it was oxalic
acid. I cannot recall where I got it but he found it somewhere. I talked to him a few days ago and he
said he was in the back yard dipping cans in oxalic acid using the channel pliers, just exactly how I had
done it when he was a kid. I told my best dumping story to Tom for the video, I still love that story and
would like to have you watch it.
Our three big events every year were BBBS,
Guzzle and Twirl and the CANvention. They were all
great fun, meeting new people, hospitality rooms
(tickled pink that I could pick up an Outlaw shirt in
New Ulm this past April), banquet, entertainment,
and seeing those folks that you hadn’t seen for a year.
I traded quite a bit by mail. One trading partner
was in Austria but all the others were in the states.
The trade was usually consummated by mail but also
by phone long before email and Internet. Make the
deal, box up the cans, ship them out and wait for a package to come. I recall Ed Shannon calling me to
say that the new Andy’s can was coming out that day. I called Andy’s Liquor Store to confirm, drove up
to Rochester and bought a few cases. I bottom opened the cans and dumped the beer because those
cans just HAD to be in the mail tomorrow. Then there was that collect call one evening from some guy
out east someplace. He knew what he wanted to trade for and justified making a collect call to me
because his phone bill was already too high. Bet he didn’t last long.
Well, you get the idea. It was a terrific time. I have been away from collecting for a long time, but
this adventure has brought back a lot of memories. Thanks for lending me an ear.
See ya’ll soon,
Good Ol’ Bob (Once upon a time 11214)
Page 4