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American Can Company |
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Canning Code - Production Dates |
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Note: The following information is based on research of Robert
Porter and Kevin Lilek, used with their permission.
I only created this HTML page and the digital JPEG images based off
handwritten canning code symbols. Robert is working on a BCCA article
with details of how he determined the symbols <-> year matching.
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Most canning companies producing beer cans will include a small "code"
somewhere on the beer can sheet, indicating not only the manufacturer
but possibly physical plant location, and in some cases the date/year,
in which the can sheet was printed. American Can Company specificically
provides all three pieces of information, at least for the time periods
from 1935 through 1953. Note this code is also called an "MPC", or
"Manufacturer's Printing Code".
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For many American Can Company cans, the text of "AM. CAN CO" will
be printed very boldly, along with a small text code in the form of:
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A.C. CO [two digit number] [A] [small symbol]
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The two digit number represents a code of where the beer can sheet was
physically printed, with the following table borrowed from Kevin
Lilek's book "United States Beer Cans with Opening Instructions":
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| 10 - Greenwhich, CT |
44 - New York City, NY |
83 - Omaha, NE |
| 17 - Philadelphia, PA |
47 - Atlanta, GA |
90 - Salem, OR |
| 23 - Baltimore, MD |
50 - Cleveland, OH |
91 - Los Angeles, CA |
| 34 - Pittsburgh, PA |
68 - Chicago, IL |
94 - San Francisco, CA |
| 38 - Buffalo, NY |
70 - St. Louis, MO |
98 - Saccramento, CA |
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The next part of the symbol always seems to be a constant "A".
For example, "68 A", or sometimes with a dash, "68-A". Not sure if the
"A" is yet another indication of "American" or was planned to vary
depending on something such as manufacturing shift, or possibly a specific
building if more than one plant in the same city, but "A" seems to be
the only letter used.
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The final "small symbol" is more interesting, and through the research
of Robert Porter indicates a calendar year in which the
beer can sheet was produced. Note that the following symbols are digital
creations and are at best close approximates to the actual
printed canning code symbols. Even with high resolution digital cameras
these actual printed symbols are difficult to represent.
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1935 |
| Simple "X" |
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1936 |
| The "X" now has left side closed |
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1937 |
| The "X" now has both sides closed, forming a
"bow-tie" |
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1938 |
| Bow-tie with single dot top/middle |
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1939 |
| Bow-tie with two dots, top/middle and
bottom/middle |
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1940 |
| Bow-tie with three dots |
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1941 |
| Single "backslash" |
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1942 |
| Double "backslash" |
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1943 |
| "Baseball" diamond |
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1944 |
| Diamond with a single dot in the middle |
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1945
(A) |
| Diamond with one outside dot, top/left |
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1945
(B) |
| Diamond with one outside dot, top/right. Either
may be found for 1945 |
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1946
(A) |
| Diamond with two outside dots, top left and
right |
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1946
(B) |
| Diamond with two outside dots, top and bottom
right. Either may be found for 1946 |
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1947 |
| Diamond with three outside dots |
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1948 |
| Diamond with four outside dots |
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1949 |
| Similar to the number "7" |
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1950 |
| Number "7" with inside dot |
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1951
(A) |
| Number "7" with inside diagnol. Looks
somewhat like an "arrow" cursor. |
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1951
(B) |
| Number "7" with one "leg", looking more like
the Greek "Pi" symbol |
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1952 |
| Greek "Pi" symbol with two legs |
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1953 |
| Greek "Pi" symbol with three legs |
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Many thanks to Robert Porter for the research on
production dates, and Kevin Lilek for publishing the
production plant information.
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