So you always wondered....hhmm what happened to all those OD beer cans from WWII

[keithker]

Well according to this image, it looks like many of them were turned into toys...

Title: Toy Autos Made From G.I. Beer Cans, Japan

Date: 1948-12

[keithker]

Oh the agony...is that an open star gold Budweiser? It is a Withdrawn Free either way.....

[keithker]

And now there are some WF cone tops being cut into toys....I know there are some Pabst Blue Ribbon WF's in there I'd kill for.....

[Atlantic Guy]

Wow! That needs to be an article in the magazine. Great pictures.

Ken

[keithker]

A closer look will show a Blatz and Schlitz along with the Budweiser and Miller....

[keithker]

A closer look.....Blatz OD cone top...Schlitz...PBR..

[Nobes1010]

Heartbreaking.

In so many ways.

[keithker]

Wow! That needs to be an article in the magazine. Great pictures.

Ken

@Atlantic Guy Ken I think the images were from Time Life magazine but I'll be damned if I can find the actual article or edition.....

[bantam10]

And now there are some WF cone tops being cut into toys....I know there are some Pabst Blue Ribbon WF's in there I'd kill for.....

cmwelfmmeem.png

Pfeiffer left front basket

[beercanman]

Very cool. Everything there looks like there are known WF examples, except maybe the Blatz. At least I don’t recall knowing of a WF Blatz that looks like that.

[keithker]

@beercanman @CMD has one that he won on ebay. The WF is on the lid! Yeah the white Blatz.

[Rand]

These cans are being used to make cars.....here are some other pictures at further steps down the production line. Any chance these are candidates for a rubout? Would be cool to get one of these cars and see if you can reveal the can underneath! :-)

[Dammit Jim!]

I think this may be the car: https://www.ebay.com/itm/324126675871

[Rand]

OMG! That's it! Not sure it's worth $175 to test the rub-out theory, but if we could find a junker, this could get interesting!

Rand :-)

[Dammit Jim!]

OMG! That's it! Not sure it's worth $175 to test the rub-out theory, but if we could find a junker, this could get interesting!

Rand :-)

I saw small picture of another car that either had chipped paint or rust on some of it. Unfortunately, it was too small to really see anything. I would be curious to either see underneath or under some chips to see if it's a can. It would be cool to have a rubbed out O/D patterned wind up car.

[bodean]

Ugh. Great pics but it hurts to see those cans being recycled.

That being said, I'd like to have one of those cars...

[Dammit Jim!]

Makes you wonder what they did with the piles of cans in Europe or on the Pacific islands. I did see where they were making similar cars in Germany after the war, so they may have the same source.

[JustJoe]

OMG! That's it! Not sure it's worth $175 to test the rub-out theory, but if we could find a junker, this could get interesting!

Rand :-)

I saw small picture of another car that either had chipped paint or rust on some of it. Unfortunately, it was too small to really see anything. I would be curious to either see underneath or under some chips to see if it's a can. It would be cool to have a rubbed out O/D patterned wind up car.

It looks like they put the blanks in the press label side down. Which makes sense, smooth side gets finish painted (one less process). Looks like the center of the label would be on the inside of the roof which is the flattest part of the stamping ? I'm game !! Has to be just the shell out there, that's not so pricey to check ? That leads me to wonder what other products they made that could hold a beer label under it ?

[Ted Wolfe]

The Japanese were using empty beer cans even before the war was over. Of course, these weren't OD.

[Chris E.]

The Japanese were using empty beer cans even before the war was over. Of course, these weren't OD.Daily_Jeffersonian_1945-11-02_8.png

They were probably Royal LPs that were made for the Manila market. Anybody gone dumping in Bataan?

Chris E.

[bodean]

Off topic but...Dad had a book on his shelves titled the "Bataan Death March". When I was young, the title intrigued me but he didn't let me read it til I was in high school. I know why now and I wished I had not read it.

[pinnacle-project]

@keithker

Where did you find these pictures? I am assuming there was not an article at the same location as the pictures.

[keithker]

@keithker

Where did you find these pictures? I am assuming there was not an article at the same location as the pictures.

@pinnacle-project I just happened upon them when searching for some old brewery related stuff. I thought the pictures were part of a Time Life article but I was never able to find an actual article.

https://artsandculture.google.com/asset ... b19ZcDwIhA

[keithker]

So here is part of an image from the video that I previewed that shows the GI sitting around the table before they fill the ox carts full of the cans....Their choice seemed to be Beverwycks WF that day....

[keithker]

[Ziphippie]

Great pics, thanks for posting! Twenty years ago I found an occupied Japan toy at a flea market that was showing a small part of a Schlitz beer can under some flocking. Never put it together that they would be Withdrawn Free until I saw this thread. Here’s what I’ve found so far, thanks again for posting-
I won’t stop until I find that Pfeiffers! Ziphippie

[pinnacle-project]

@hover31

Can you flip over one of the items in the first picture so I can get a better perspective of what the toy is? I am intrigued by this subject. Maybe, just maybe, I will write an article someday (a year or so from now).

Thanks!

[keithker]

Great pics, thanks for posting! Twenty years ago I found an occupied Japan toy at a flea market that was showing a small part of a Schlitz beer can under some flocking. Never put it together that they would be Withdrawn Free until I saw this thread. Here’s what I’ve found so far, thanks again for posting-
I won’t stop until I find that Pfeiffers! Ziphippie B42B3C2E-F491-488B-BDA3-D25D019A58D6.jpeg87BA5CCC-3030-4B85-AE23-12F2FCBFB73A.jpeg

@hover31 Bjorn....Thanks for adding to this story. I can see a few of the cans have the WF portion but for the life of me can't seem to make out what can that "Golden" is possibly from. Is it just something simple and I'm looking at the design too hard???

[Ziphippie]

Golden Grain?
Crazy to think one of the WF ‘cans’ I now have could be in one of those pics from the toy factory. I’ll be home shortly and take some pics of a toy being dismantled- Ziphippie

-detach fur

-notice the ‘keglined’ bear on the right

-rip the head off

-breast it out