Some collect stamps, others collect vinyl records. For Mats Strand in Gransmåla, Oskarshamn, beer cans have been the thing. More than 40,000 jars from all over the world are in his collection.
– As a teenager, you took a bicycle in the morning and checked the ditches. You were quite good at picking up rubbish, you cleared the ground on beer cans, says Mats Strand.
But as Mats grew up, got a family and a job at the nuclear power plant, the gathering also came to an end – until the old village school next to the home was put up for sale.
The collection mostly consists of cans from the 70s and 80s.
– It is not possible to keep up with all the new cans that arrive. It is impossible.
150 square meters of cans
Now the collection is crammed onto specially built shelves in the 150 square meter room. Mats estimates the value of his cans at just over one million kroner. The plan is to start selling off the collection and at the same time convert the school into rooms that the grandchildren can use.
– It does not fill up with new, younger collectors. So if I don’t get rid of this, and save a little bit financially, I don’t know who will buy the collection. But there are many buyers internationally. I have many buyers in South America.
Join Mats on a tour among the desert jars in the clip above.
