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The "Beer Magazine Viewer" is a Java application custom written by
Randy Karasek (RB 636). For several years I had been collecting back
issues of "Beer Cans Monthly" and the follow on "Brewery Collectibles".
Once I had a complete set, in 2002 interest switched to scanning the content
into electronic and SEARCHABLE form to simplify data
access. Thus arose an initial search engine and basic viewer. While long out
of print and out of date, the information in BCM/BC still provides many hours of
enjoyment reading about the hobby of collecting beer cans.
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As a new Rusty Bunch member sometime around 2003-2004, there were discussions
of digitizing all back issues of Rustlings. When the Rustlings archive project
appeared to be making little progress, it was only logical to extend my viewer
to include Rustlings content. Many, many hours later of scanning and editing
JPG/BMV content (over 7,500 pages of Rustlings alone), and many more hours of
Java programming, you are now viewing current version of the archive project.
Thanks to Mark Benbow, Matt Menke, and Chris Taylor for providing back issues
of Rustlings to be scanned.
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Subsequent years have produced additional content, with more chapter news letters
and even the BCCA's own magazine which contains 50 years of great hobby info.
And come June 2014, BMV 2.0 was released as a major rewrite, with ability to
web host both program and magazine content, easily available for any collector
to download immediately. Please see www.mbcinfo.com/BMV
for latest project details.
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Future BMV Content? |
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Would you like your chapter newsletter included with the BMV, digital pages and keyword
searchable? Do you have older publications such as Modern Brewer or brewery
newsletters or quarterly reports? There has been so much written about the
industry or hobby that could be added to the BMV. If you have either printed or
digital content lets chat.
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The only criteria for BMV inclusion is provided at no cost. The only profit to
be made from this project is the sharing of information with as many collectors
as possible, for as cheaply as possible. And with this hobby, the only good
price point to peak collector's interest is FREE.
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The hobby is getting older, its members are getting older, and sadly, too many
are passing on. My hope is to at least digitize much of the hobby's past such
that future members (if any) and current members (fewer every day) can at least
easily read about those that came before...
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