CANCO QUICK AND EASY OPENERS

#1

How tough are the very first openers to find? How about the original packaging they came in? Were the openers handed out by the retailers or were some included in the packaged beer cans? Some of these openers made some HUGE openings. I'd like to have an opener, preferably in its original box. Any around for sale or trade?

#2

Check with canmandan. He is only missing a few openers from the first companies to can beer. I think he has traders but am not sure.

#3

hi bryan
from reading past posts i believe you are from sandusky?
i have some tough clean cleveland cans i am selling
contact me at
john.carrocia@sbcglobal.net
clevelandcanman on ebay #11389

#4

The first "can peicers" aka chuchkeys are identified as I-7 openers. You can find find the generic I-7 openers such as Canco and Keglined all over. Beleive it or not , Krueger is just about the easiest non-national I-7 opener to find. Pabst is the most common national brand although there are numerous variants. Bryan send me your address and i can send you an opener. Have not seen any regular packaging that they came with though. Chris Solari and I have about the same number needing only about 8-10 of the approx 70+ known.

out

dan

#5

Dan:

Is there a list of the 70 or so I-7 openers you can post or direct me to? I've started picking these up although I imagine most of the 15 or so that I have are pretty common. I just fish them out of dollar piles. The favorite that I own is the Brown Derby.

What are the really tough ones to look for?

Scott

#6

Scott there are only a handful of west coast ones like Brown Derby,
St Claire , Balboa (I need that one) and Regal Pale. it is surprizing that Grace or SF brewing cos didnt have thier own, they must have just used the generic ones. Ive been thinking of doing an article for the BCCA mag with Chris S.

Scott send me a fax # and Ill send you the list I have

out

Dan

#7

Bryan, are you looking for the VERY FIRST that came in a box with 2 openers (as pictured in the O/I Book?) with no beer brand on them? I was givien one about 3 years back and Marc Tracy has a box and one of the openers. The "beak" is about 1/4 - 1/2" longer than on subsequent openers. Sorry to say though, they are not easy to come by and I don't know of anyone who has one in their trade stock.

#8

Hey Dan,

Do you need a Grand Prize or a Regal (New Orleans I believe). I picked both up a couple of weeks ago.

Kevin

#9

Yeah, I'd sure like to see one of those "big dogs" that made the huge holes, but any early opener would be nice to have. Looks like CMD might be hooking me up. Maybe I'll see one at Blue/Gray if I make it.

#10

Bryan, I've got a bunch to bring to B/G. Josh.

#11

Dan...how about posting your list here? you never know when someone may come up with one of the elusive openers you are missing and not know it.

#12

If 2 openers have the same design and brand stamped on them but one is brass and one is steel, does that make them different on that list of 70+? How about if the name of the brand is facing left on one and right on another?

#13

SEE POSTING BELOW

#14

Dan thanks in advance to posting the list. Someone sent me one awile back but lost it? I also collect them but only have about 10 or so. bryan i do have a couple of extras as well. I just seen a gunthers (which i think is one of the tougher ones)in a box lot on ebay but they wanted way too much for all the other junk that went with it.
mike

#15

Hey Dan,

I've got a R & H and an Acme. Also several common ones and a Liebmann and an Apollo Beer/Tam O'Shanter Ale combo. Would be glad to trade or sell.

#16

What is a ballpark price range for I-7 openers? I have no clue on their value but may have access to a large collection of them.

#17

Ill group them together this evening from common to rare

most of the easy ones go for $2-7 harder ones to $20
rare ones $50

out

dan

#18

Can someone post a quick pic of an I-7? I have an old Waldorf that makes those big holes.

#19

I think this is one - the important feature is the length of the opener and I don't have one handy.

http://i17.ebayimg.com/07/i/000/80/c1/ed99_1.JPG

#20

LIST OF I-7 OPENERS

THESE ARE THE "OIs" of OPENERS!

SOME DO COME IN STEEL AND COPPER COLOR

THE KEY IS THEY ARE AT LEAST 4.5" TO 5" LONG +/-

* DENOTES THE ONES IM MISSING

COMMON

ACME BREWERIES 4 diff
BUDWEISER also comes in copper
BALLANTINE 2 diff
COORS
CROFT
DREWRYS also comes in copper
ESSLINGER
FALLS CITY 2 diff
FOX DELUXE also comes in copper
GENESEE
HAMMS 2 diff
HAPSBURG
HARVARD
JACOB RUPPERT 2 diff
KRUEGERS
MEISTER BRAU
MILLER
NARRAGANSETT
PABST 5 diff including copper
PON
RHEINGOLD
LIEBMANN
SCHAFER 3 diff
SCHIMDTS CITY CLUB
STORZ
CANCO 3 diff
VAUGHAN
KEGLINED 2 diff

SCARCE

ATLAS PRAGER
FORT PITT
HULLS
IRON CITY
MANHATTAN 2 diff
NUGLOBE
PILSERS
TOS/APPOLLO
TRU BLU 3 diff
BROWN DERBY
WALDORF 2 diff

RARE

BALBOA *
BEST *
DIAMOND STATE *
EDEL BRAU *
FREDERICKS *
PETER DOELGER *
PETER HAND *
LION *
KINGS
TROMMERS *
UNION CREAM *
ROGER WILLIAMS *
NEW ENGLAND ALE
RED TOP (questionable) *
OLD DUTCH (NY)
REGAL PALE
ST CLAIRE
SCHULTZ *
STROUD

HOPE THAT HELPS

DAN

#21

Heres a pic. Josh.

#22

Dan, Thanks for the list.

I guess Rainier, Columbia, Star, Century, and Horluck's (all the WA breweries) were too cheap to get their names onto an early opener.

#23

heres another pic

ST CLAIRE
STROUD
OLD DUTCH
KINGS
FORT PITT
MANHATTAN (thanx Paul)
REGAL PALE

Mike S never seen a Gunthers I-7 can you send me the info on it

out

Dan

#24

Here's a list of all the earliest I-7 type long opener churchkeys that I know to exist with the wording exactly as it appears on the topside:
* Note: At the end of the list I will try to answer some of the questions that came up in previous posts.

1. ACME BEER AND ALE ACME BREWERIES SAN FRANCISCO
2. ACME BEER AND ALE ACME BREWING CO. LOS ANGELES
3. FOR OPENING ACME BEER AND ALE
4. FOR OPENING ACME BEER KEGLET
5. ANHEUSER - BUSCH DRI MALT
6. ATLAS Prager BEER
7. DRINK GOOD OLD Balboa Beer
8. BALLANTINE'S ALES BEER (3 rings logo)
9. HANDY WAY TO ORDER BALLANTINE'S ALE - BEER (3 rings logo + hand)
10. FOR OPENING Brown Derby Beer CANS OR BOTTLES
11. ANHEUSER BUSCH Budweiser KING OF CANNED BEER
12. Budweiser KING OF CANNED BEER
13. Coors BEER GOLDEN, COLO.
14. CROFT ALE
15. Diamond State 100% PURE GRAIN BEER
16. Canada's Pride Since 1877 DREWRYS
17. Edel Brau BEER AND ALE
18. Esslinger's BEER AND ALE (bell-boy carrying tray of beer)
19. Falls City BEER FALLS CITY BREWING CO. INC. Louisville, KY. (small print)
20. Falls City BEER FALLS CITY BREWING CO. INC. Louisville, KY. (LARGE print)
21. FEIGENSPAN P.O.N. BEER
22. FORT PITT BREWING CO. PITTSBURGH, PA.
23. FOX DE LUXE BEER
24. FREDERICK BROS. 818 W. 37th PLACE PHONE BLVD. 2537
25. GENESEE BEER and 12 HORSE ALE GENESEE BREWING CO. INC. ROCHESTER, NEW YORK
26. Hamm's BEER SMOOTH & MELLOW
27. Hamm's BEER SMOOTH & MELLOW
28. HAPSBURG BEER QUALITY LAGER BEST BREWING CO.
29. Harvard BREWING CO. LOWELL, MASS.
30. FOR OPENING Hull's ALE AND LAGER NEW HAVEN, CONN.
31. IRON CITY BEER
32. JACOB RUPPERT BREWERY NEW YORK
33. JACOB RUPPERT BREWERY NEW YORK (text printed on underside, Keglined logo on topside)
34. KINGS BEER AND ALE KINGS BREWERY, INC. BROOKLYN, N.Y.
25. ENJOY KRUEGER'S ON DRAUGHT. WHERE NOT AVAILABLE, DRINK IT FROM KEGLINED CANS.
36. LION BREWERY OF NEW YORK CITY
37. MALT-DIASTASE CO. OP SPRAY DRIED MALT
38. Manhattan PREMIUM A FINER BEER
39. Manhattan PREMIUM BEER CHICAGO
40. MEISTER BRAU "THE BEER" PETER HAND BREWERY CO.
41. Miller SELECT BEER
42. The Famous Old Narragansett Banquet ALE
43. DRINK THE FAMOUS NEW ENGLAND ALE IN DOUBLE-LINED CANS
44. FOR OPENING NU-GLOBE BEER
45. Old Dutch BEER - ALE BROOKLYN, N.Y.
46. FOR OPENING Pabst Tapa Can (Pabst in single-line script)
47. FOR OPENING Pabst Tapa Can (Pabst in double-line script)
48. FOR OPENING Pabst Tapa Can MADE IN UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
49. Pabst Blue Ribbon (Pabst in single-line script. Underside says: PAT. NO. 1,996,550 P.M. Pabst Blue Ribbon)
50. Peter Doelger
51. PILSER'S ORIGINAL EXTRA DRY BEER N.Y.
52. R & H BEER Taste the Difference!
53. REGAL PALE THE MOST REFRESHING THING ON ICE
54. RHEINGOLD BEER AND ALE LIEBMANN BREWERIES, INC.
55. LIEBMANN BREWERIES RHEINGOLD BEER SCOTCH ALE
56. ROGER WILLIAMS BEER
57. FOR OPENING ST. CLAIRE BEER AMERICA'S FINEST
58. Schaefer BEER AT ITS BEST
59. Schaefer BEER AT ITS BEST (underside says PAT. NO. 1,996,550 P.M.)
60. Schaefer BEER AT ITS BEST (underside says PAT. NO. 1,996,550 P.M. Schaefer BEER AT ITS BEST)
61. FOR OPENING Schmidt's City Club BEER
62. SCHULTZ QUALITY BEER - ALE
63. Storz BEER OMAHA
64. STROUD - BEER STROUDSBURG BREWING CO. STROUDSBURG, PA.
65. Tam o'Shanter Ale Apollo Beer AMERICAN BREWING CO. ROCHESTER, N.Y.
66. TROMMER'S BEER
67. TRU-BLU BEER AND ALE NORTHAMPTON BREWERY CORP. NORTHAMPTON, PA.
68. TRU-BLU BEER AND ALE NORTHAMPTON BREWERY CORP. NORTHAMPTON, PA. PAT. NO. 1,996,550 VAUGHAN CHICAGO
69. TRU-BLU BEER AND ALE NORTHAMPTON BREWING CORP. NORTHAMPTON, PA. PAT. NO. 1,996,550 VAUGHAN CHICAGO
70. UNION CREAM ALE
71. Waldorf Lager CHAMPAGNE OF BEER
72. Waldorf Lager CHAMPAGNE OF BEER PAT. NO. 1,996,550 MADE IN U.S.A. VAUGHAN CHICAGO

The following 6 are also I-7 openers but they don't have any beer or brewery name on them:
73. Vaughan's QUICK & EASY CAN & BOTTLE OPENER
74. QUICK & EASY OPENER PATS. PEND. CANCO AMERICAN CAN CO. MADE IN U.S.A. (5 1/8" long)
75. QUICK & EASY OPENER PATS. PEND. CANCO AMERICAN CAN CO. MADE IN U.S.A. (4 3/4" long)
76. QUICK & EASY OPENER PATENT 1,996,550 CANCO AMERICAN CAN Co MADE IN U.S.A.
77. FOR BEER IN CANS MARKED KEGLINED TRADE MARK AM. CAN CO. CANCO PATENT 1,996,550
78. FOR BEER IN CANS MARKED KEGLINED TRADE MARK AM. CAN CO. CANCO PATENT 1,996,550 (underside says: DON'T THROW ME OUT! I'M THE QUICKEST AND BEST OPENER FOR ALL LIQUID FOODS.)

First of all, I agree with everything Dan Scoglietti said. Pabst and Krueger are by far the easiest ones, along with the generic Keglined without any beer name.

I thought Dan's cost information looked correct, too. I don't remember his exact figures but I think it was something like $2 to $5 for the easiest ones, maybe $5 to $20 for the next level, $20 to $40 for the tougher ones, and then $50+ for the impossible ones (if you're lucky enough to even find one for sale!)

There have been rumors of certain other brands existing as I-7 long openers such as Red Top or Berghoff. Just in this discussion thread, a couple people earlier mentioned Gunther, Grand Prize, and Regal (New Orleans) in their postings. Not to say that they don't exist (How do you prove something doesn't exist?), but there is another type of early can opener that came out later called the I-6 type and it's possible people may have seen one of those and confused it for an I-7. The difference is in the length. If you lay an I-6 and an I-7 together side by side, it's obvious they're not the same type. Just remember, the oldest cans were made of the thickest steel which required a longer opener to get enough leverage to punch through that steel. As cans became thinner and lighter, the openers became shorter and the points on the can punch became more rounded and less of a sharp point. Typically, longer opener = older. Shorter = newer.

The list above only accounts for major wording variations. Most of the openers were nickel-chrome plated but some were also available in a copper-plated version. They were not brass or solid copper- just copper plate.

Someone pointed out that some of what I call the "nail holes" (like if you wanted to hang the opener on a nail in the wall when you weren't using it) are different sizes and asked if that's counted as a variation. The answer is: It depends on how detailed you want to be. Let's consider how many variations there could be of just one opener.

Take this one for example:
FOR OPENING Pabst Tapa Can (Pabst in double-line script)
OK, that's 1.

That particular opener comes with 2 underside wording styles:
A) QUICK & EASY OPENER PATENT 1,996,550 CANCO AMERICAN CAN Co MADE IN U.S.A.

B) FOR BEER IN CANS MARKED KEGLINED TRADE MARK AM. CAN CO. CANCO PATENT 1,996,550

so now we're up to 2 openers.

That opener was made in both nickel and copper plate so now you have 4 potential variations on the same Pabst opener.

Next, let's say you call BIG nail-hole and little nail-hole a colectible variation. That brings us up to 8 variations now on the same opener.

How far do you go in making these distinctions? It's all up to you and how much space you have!

So, what are the toughest openers? Dan gave a good breakdown so I would just add to that: In most cases, think of the can that goes along with that particular opener. If the can is super-tough, then you can bet the opener probably is, too. A few examples are Frederick Bros., Nu-Globe, Stroud, or Roger Williams.

Like Dan, I'm down to the final few that are next to impossible and it's been almost 2 years now since I've been able to add a new one to my collection. I'm still looking, though.. maybe some day...

#25

Thanx Chris for the detailed listing ,we have to get together at B/G and think about doing an article for the BCCA mag.

I-7s arent that hard to find , at least the first 40 or so. I started picking them as as something else to look for at flea markets , garage sales and antique stores. When you do find one you need from the general public , expect to pay from a buck to $5. It gets harder once in that second tier. I found my Iron City at an antique shop in KC. The 3rd tier is pretty tough. Like Chris I have yet to add one in the past year. I think the number of openers double once you get to I-6. Ive had very little luck find any opener I need at shows. You just got to get the word out as some of my best openers have comes from friends looking out for me. Easy to display as well. I take a small nail on my beer can shelves and hang them up.

good luck

dan

#26

The first R-7 in this row was distributed in a box like on page XVII of Lilek's O/I book. You can see in the picture that the "beak" is much bigger than the next "CANCO" opener. Notice the bottle opener area also has a different slope to it.

#27

Does the orientation of the KEGLINED writing on the face of the copper openers constitute a difference? It's as though they made lefty and righty models

#28

The gunthers i seen was in a large box lot of openers on ebay a week or so ago, found it by doing a krueger search. I just tried looking and couldnt find it, didnt realize it was "unknown" or would have posted something. It is certainly possible it was the shorter I-6 but seem to remember it sitting next to 3 or 4 other very common I-7's like pabst and canco as they had lots of close up shots with them all seperated by types of openers.
mike

#29

Wouldn't it be easy to verify which opener you're looking at by checking the patent #? They wouldn't have duplicated the I-7 patent number on other types of openers, right?

I always look for different openers at junk shops. The I-7's are cool, but don't overlook the other openers, especially the figural ones and the mechanical ones. Anything odd/unusual is usually worth some money. "Just for Openers" by Bull & Stanley is a good reference for openers. Donald Bull has a website with some cool stuff: http://www.bullworks.net/virtual.htm

#30

I agree with " beercanman" I think the largest holes were done with the mechanical openers. The ones that put both holes in with one press. A very large hole on one side a much smaller ( vent ) hole on the opposite side.

CANCO QUICK AND EASY OPENERS

CANCO QUICK AND EASY OPENERS

I-7 long opener churchkeys

patent number