Mug Shots - Introduction

I've tried to stick to glass mug collecting, but have been unable to resist the temptation of expanding into Great A&W Root Bear memorabilia, and ceramic coffee mugs. There seem to be VERY few US coffee mugs, whereas in Canada I have found about 20 separate varieties, most dating post-1980.

I first put this web site up as "Ken P's A & W Root Beer Mugs" in the summer of 1995. It was a detailed description of all my mugs (about 30 at the time), with images of a dozen of them. Over the next 12 months, I received many comments from collectors and the general public. I decided to extend the scope of the page, turning it into a general listing of A & W memorabilia, along with any corporate information I could find. Thanks must go out to George "A & W Root Beer Super Collector" Spengler, for providing me with his extensive lists of known items.

In 1997, I started selling my extra mugs on eBay, and soon after that I began listing all my extras on my web pages. This helps fund my collection, expand others' collections, and raise awareness of this specialized hobby. If we want our mugs to grow in value, we need more collectors, and to start establishing scarcity and price guides.

At one point I thought of starting a newsletter, mainly to put the various collectors in touch with each other, for trading mugs, and sharing information about what is available. Then I found the Root Beer Float newsletter, and later the Soda Pop Dreams newsletter. They fill this need marvelously. Information on subscribing to them can be found under Resources.

In total I have about 90 different glass mugs, 20 coffee mugs, and 25 Great A&W Root Bear items of varying shape and size. Most of the mugs sit on the kitchen cabinets, but I still freeze some extra mugs for drinking a cold can of pop.

Photos covering most of my A & W memorabilia collection

American glass mugs

(photo taken 1997; I need to update it)

Canadian glass mugs

(photo taken 1997; I need to update it)

The Great A & W Root Bear

Coffee mugs

(I have another three that wouldn't conveniently fit in this picture.)