A unique club event “Exhibition of beer paraphernalia” was held at the Moscow Fair of Hobbies

What people don’t collect! Philatelists and barbiephilists, keepsecophilists and fibulonophilists, keepsecophilists and lepidopterophilists… uuuuh, I barely wrote! People collect absolutely everything!

Today we are lucky to enter the circle of collectors of beer paraphernalia – birophiles. In October of this year, a lot of beer paraphernalia collectors from the most remote corners of Russia came to Moscow for the 25th anniversary meeting.

All participants brought their pride, joy and happiness to the exhibition – unique collections. Among the various riches, every collector of beer paraphernalia will undoubtedly be able to find something interesting and exclusive for himself, because the exhibition presents a unique exposition of beer paraphernalia from the world, Europe, the Soviet Union and Russia – beer labels and corks, coasters, beer posters XIX – XXI centuries, lids, bottles and cans, pub receipts, beer glasses, frothers, antique bottles, mugs, vintage photographs, etc. There are also other beer-themed collections (stamps, envelopes, calendar cards, badges, and much more), as well as a collection of historical labels from the Baltika-Rostov plant, formerly the Novaya Zarya plant.

Here is what Vladislav Shamov, chairman of the capital club of beer paraphernalia (KKPA), said: “The club has existed since 1998, and has been holding a meeting of collectors for 25 times already. Guys usually come to us from all Russian regions: Moscow, St. Petersburg, the Urals, the Volga region, the Don, Siberia. Previously, guests from other republics came. Now collectors from Belarus have arrived – they also have a network of KKPA. In general, our meetings are devoted to the exchange and sale of beer paraphernalia. We do not just collect, we contribute to the preservation of the history of brewing in Russia, we create collections by which you can trace what labels and beer caps used to be. As a rule, people who love beer itself become collectors of beer paraphernalia: drank a drink – liked the label, left it as a keepsake, you think, and next time I will find something new. I liked some theme on the label, for example, I began to collect labels with the image of lighthouses or bridges, or steam locomotives, drawings of beautiful girls on the labels – whatever. Beer labels and corks are the most popular among collectors. At the same time, cork collecting is developing most intensively. Cork, as you know, appeared in the United States. The most valuable corks are from the very first drinks, not only beer, but also juices, Pepsi-Cola, etc. Also popular with collectors are beer mugs and glasses, as well as coasters for them. Jars and bottles, badges and openers, postcards and calendars are collected less often.

The chairman is echoed by Dmitry Liukaitis, a collector, a member of the club of beer paraphernalia: “In my student days, I drank beer and mechanically tore off labels, and for some reason put corks in my pocket. So gradually there were some rudiments of the collection. Then it became interesting to try beer from different manufacturers, there were few of them. Now there are a lot of them – from giant factories to home mini-breweries. It is impossible to collect absolutely all the labels, even in Russia, not to mention the CIS and the world. Most collectors collect systematically – they take some factories, countries and systematically collect everything that comes out of these factories. Fortunately or unfortunately, brewers provide not only replenishment of collections, but also load our liver – because every year both labels and corks change. In addition to labels, people collect coasters for beer glasses – the so-called coasters, popularly called “cookies”. Someone collects cans, glasses, mugs – but few are fond of this. These collections take up a lot of space, have a large volume, we even had cases when people specifically bought apartments to place collections there.”

By the way, the world’s largest collection of beer coasters – coasters – belongs to Leo Pisker, a resident of Vienna: it contains more than 140,000 items from 155 countries of the world. Coasters can be of the most diverse shapes: oval, square, rectangular, hexagonal, but, for example, an Australian company made a beer stand in the shape of their native mainland. The plots found on beer coasters are diverse: these are images of nature (plants and animals), technology (ships, planes, cars, trains), works of art (fragments of paintings, sculptures), architectural monuments, sports competitions. Often there are funny inscriptions on the coasters: “Dark beer for a bright head”, “Open, try, evaluate”, “Drank the Kaiser, you and the Kaiser”, “Tell me what you drink, and I will tell you who you are” . Meet among the beer slogans and toasts: “For your health”, “God grant happiness!”.

Many birophiles are excellent tasters, their interest is concentrated not only on the “form”, but, of course, on the “content” of beer, they often take part in professional tastings, reaching perfection in this skill and not yielding to professionals. But many beerophiles don’t drink beer at all! By the way, there are many beautiful ladies among collectors of beer paraphernalia, and often their collections arise from a husband’s love for beer or a cork randomly picked up by children.

Sergey Gorshkov, chairman of the Tula beer club, accurately expressed the whole essence and meaning of the event: “We set ourselves the goal of showing not just beer paraphernalia. We want to reveal a very important and interesting aspect of human culture and life in general. Our collections contain not only designer labels and posters, but also books, household items that reflect the culture of different peoples, this is the history and part of modern life. Collectors highly appreciate the importance of holding such meetings, as it contributes to the development of knowledge about the rich history of beer, facilitates the process of replenishing collections, provides an opportunity for close communication with fellow hobbyists, and also allows you to strengthen contacts with breweries. Beer is a drink with a long history and rich traditions. Knowing the history of beer, brewing, the history of beer containers, labels, and corks allows you not only to learn how things are born, but also to improve consumer culture, beer culture as well, and brewers and collectors of beer paraphernalia should deal with this issue together!”

Mikhail Kovalyov.

Author’s photo