No one was collecting old cans. We begged everybody at the bottle shows to give us bottles with labels on them and to not take labels off. Kovel says each one is a tiny window into history, and a clue to what makes us reach into our wallets. Label colors changed with the times, too. Pastels were popular in the 1920s, and now red, white and blue things are coming through.
Patriotism is always big, flags and government.
Kovel's favorite label once graced a can of Potter and Wrightington's tomato soup. It shows a maid bringing a tureen of steaming soup to a husband and wife sitting at the dinner table. Intricate details show elegant silverware, cloth napkins wrapped by rings, the Victorian hairstyle of the woman. And now the label has a different purpose. It's the treasure of collectors like the Kovels.