I’ve been keeping an eye on every episode of The Session since I started blogging nearly a year ago. If you’re not familiar with the online event, it occurs each month when the global community of beer bloggers unites to write about a single topic, chosen and hosted by a different person every time. Due to a range of excuses I’ve always been on the sidelines until now.

As host of Session #52, I’ve decided not to focus on the substance of beer, but the material that plays a supporting role. Bottles, coasters, cans, labels, ads, tap handles, church keys, hats, t-shirts, tip trays, glassware and signs have been collected by fanatics ever since beer has been sold. These objects constitute the world of breweriana, a term that surfaced in 1972 to define any item displaying a brewery or brand name. The majority of highly prized objects are from the pre-prohibition era, but ephemera from every period in brewing history, including craft beer, finds a home with each beer drinking generation.

So what old or new beer related items do you collect and why? It’s that simple. This is your opportunity to share the treasured objects your wife or husband won’t let you display on the fireplace mantle. You don’t need to be a major collector like this guy to participate. In my mind, just a few items constitute a collection. Maybe you have mementos from a beer epiphany or road trips? You can focus on a whole collection or tell the story behind a single item.

Publish the story on your own blog June 3rd and let me know it’s there by leaving a comment below or sending me an e-mail in the footer contact form. Then, a week or so later I’ll publish a roundup.

It’s show and tell time!