Love of collecting brewery, beer items draws crowd at Potosi event

A large crowd packed the halls this morning at Ss. Andrew-Thomas School in Potosi to buy and sell pieces from beer and brewery collections at Port of Potosi's Breweriana and Collectibles Show. The event is in its 17th year. 

"The event has gotten more and more popular over the years," said Mike Kress, Port of Potosi president. "Since the (National Brewery) Museum opened, I think it's gotten more people interested in collecting."

Kress said the Potosi show started soon after Port of Potosi became an American Breweriana Association chapter in 2005. He said the local event stands out for its food offerings, including catfish and desserts made by local residents. 

This year's event brought in 60 vendors with collections spread out over 130 8-foot-long tables, which were filled with beer cans, bottles, glasses, trays, signs and more.

"It's a family event," said Linda Kress, Mike Kress' wife and treasurer of Port of Potosi. "You meet a lot of people every year. We've got bottles, cans, signs, everything you can imagine. If you can't find it here, it doesn't exist. It's amazing how it's evolved."

Mike Kress also was selling a wide variety of items from his collection. 

"I started when I was 8 years old, collecting beer cans," he said. "It spiraled from there after I collected hundreds of beer cans. I mostly try to find Potosi Brewing things."

Meyer began collecting beer cans when he was a sophomore in high school. 

"In high school, that was the fashionable thing to do," he said. "After my family grew, my collecting fell off for a bit, but then I got into (collecting) advertising (materials).

Meyer said one of the most memorable pieces of his collection is a reverse-glass Potosi beer sign that used to hang in a now-shuttered Potosi grocery store. 

"The hunt is the exciting thing," he said. 

Brent Zimmerman, of Mosinee, Wis., asked vendors what "treasures" they had as he walked through the tables. 

"This is a fun way to see a bunch of friends from all over the Midwest," he said. "I've been collecting for 30 years, and it's just exploded out, like any hobby."

Marlies Irby, who was helping with Saturday's event, said she and her husband, Norman, have been coming to the event for years. The couple moved to Potosi last year from Washington after making friends at similar events over the years. 

"We met the Potosi people 18 years ago, and we've been friends ever since," she said. "I enjoy talking to all the people and helping out where I'm needed. My husband is involved in collecting, and we would make three trips a summer to events."