Beer Archeology Schlitz and other brands

Having done many a dig and finding a wide variety of stuff over the years it dawned on me recently that I have struck more than a few old beer cans and bottles. Bud , Genny , Iron City . Miller etc. It can making dating an area a little easier because I essentially know when the light beer trend began....gabblingers was I believe the first lite beer circa 1968. A beer that was once popular can disappear rather rapidly as taste change. One example is Ballentine Beer and Ale. Once popular in the 40's 50's etc then disappeared from the landfill record circa 1963 or so. Another such an item is Schlitz....known to many from that era as the beer that made Milwaukee famous. Established in 1849 it was perhaps the most popular beer in America for appx 50 yrs. I have found remnants of Schlitz beer cans and bottles going atleast into the 40's. Found perhaps the most Schlitz than any other. I even remember the decline and fall of the Schlitz Empire. It began around circa 1972. The company for some bizarre production reason changed their brewing method perhaps to produce more, cheaper is an often quoted reason. That along with a bungled ad campaign sent Schlitz tumbling.....people left in droves. One of the icon products of the 20th Century ended up being sold off and production ceased somewhere in the mid to late 70's I believe. I have noticed this rapid end in the landfill record. Bud & Miller became even more of a mainstay. Then I noticed early 80's a change of trend....Lowenbrau , Molson , Heineken became a a cast off item. The beginning of the small designer beers were on their way.
As sort of post script I can report that Pabst who owns the Schlitz name is making an attempt to restart that old label. Just to demonstrate how quickly things can become lost in time that had to piece the formula together from old brewery notes and interviews with retired brew masters. It is mainly restarting in the midwest but is brewed in the eastern half of the nation. You can buy it in the 11001 area code. Sometimes the senses can be a form of archeology as well. Recently had one......Brought back memories.....the taste that ancestors knew and enjoyed going back to the 19th Century. Revived from the ashes and landfills and the memories of old brew masters from the past.

Maple Hill High School 1970 ...The Great Soccer Challenge

As I look out over many a playing field the single biggest change since my playing days is simply the fact that females so often dominate the softball and soccer fields of today. It was of course not always so....there was a time when women 's sports were down the list......Men's basketball , soccer baseball , football followed by anything men wanted to do was the norm. The ladies had field hockey within the school.....but little of that.
On a recent trip I stopped by MHHS. As I walked the track my mind traveled back to the school back then. It has not changed that much. The field hockey goals are gone , the ball diamond looks slightly overgrown. The soccer field looks much the same , of course there is now a track around the edge. There was in the senior class a movement to give women a more prominate role in activities. A great plot was hatched in the sports area. The senior girls vs the senior boys in a Thursday afternoon game with the school invited. After much cajoling the match was set. The mens captain was one Ronald P. Kunicki.......womens captain Elizabeth Eckert who's father at the time was on the school board , which was a great help in the OK being given for this game. I was the goalie.
Much of the school turned out.....classes let out early.....a fairly good size event for that time. I wish I could tell you a great sports upset story but alas men 8 women 0. They held us well into the second quarter even a couple of shots on goal but eventually the men won.
The point was however made that spring afternoon. Sports on the High School and College level were soon about to change. All of my three daughters played soccer in High School. School budgets formed along new laws and guidelines. But there was that moment when many yrs ago a game was played to send a signal that things would not stay the same for much longer.