Did You Know?

CANNED BEER'S 75TH
Profile America -- Sunday, January 24th. One of the more American of inventions -- and a staple of television advertising -- is having its 75th anniversary this week. The first canned beer was put on sale in 1935 as a marketing test in Richmond, Virginia, by the Gottfried Krueger Brewing Company of Newark, New Jersey. Experiments with putting beer in cans had taken place as early as 1909, but the technology of the time couldn't stop the beer from interacting with the metal of the can. Then, Prohibition delayed further development. Now, cans are the preferred container for beer in the U.S. American adults drink an average of nearly 22 gallons of beer a year, down about 2 gallons from 1980. You can find these and more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau, now preparing for the 2010 Census on April 1st.

Sources: Kane's Famous First Facts, 2671
Statistical Abstract of the United States 2009, t. 207



Profile America is produced by the Public Information Office of the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on a monthly CD or on the Internet at www.census.gov (look under the "Newsroom" button).