A REAL rare can would be what they would call a 'cone-top', meaning it was canned in the 1940s or so -something very hard to find along a roadside ditch or railroad track or open field.
Another rule: cans got valued and traded, but in terms of how many average-value cans' worth, not money. In other words, how many cans would some other kid trade for to get that particular can. The cone-top may fetch as many as 20 regular cans, so its value was '20'. Kids would trade up or down depending on what they needed to complete a set.
Naturally it attracted every Junior and Senior High School aged kid (mostly boys) who were underage, so barred from drinking liquor. It made them 'edgy'. They could act 'sophisticated' about the product by showing a deep passion for collecting the iconic 'junk' as it were. It showed all their friends 'hey, maybe I'm too young to drink beer, but I know A LOT about beer.'
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