Beer has come a long way since the very first beer can was produced back in 1935. Our pal WebUrbanist has a nifty post about some of the most unusual and collectible beer cans in the world. This one to the left is the very first canned beer:
American Can Co. began experimenting with canned beer in 1931, as it anticipated the end of Prohibition. Krueger’s Special Beer was the first commercially packaged beer in a can. The very first canned beer was sold in Richmond, Virginia in 1935. Early on, manufacturers were mostly concerned with creating a beer can that could hold up to the heat and pressure of the pasteurization process without bursting or later leaking on the store shelves. Style and branding were considered, but were not a top priority in the beginning. Pabst was the first major brewer to offer beer in a can.
(Photo: Rustycans, who has a great many more collections of, well, rusty beer cans!)