Today was the birthday in 1912 of John Milkovisch, a maker you can raise a glass to.
Or better yet, a can, since he used tens of thousands of them to cover his entire house.
222 Malone Street in Houston, Texas looks like an outsider art project, but the creator of the Beer Can House, as it’s called, didn’t consider himself an artist, and he wasn’t trying to make any kind of statement.
Even he said he wasn’t sure why he did it.
But we do know this: Milkovisch didn’t like standard household projects.
For example, he filled his front yard with concrete because he didn’t want to mow the lawn.
He did like doing his own kinds of projects, like embedding marbles into a patio fence that would gleam in the sunlight at the right time of day.
And above all, he didn’t like seeing things go to waste.
He’d held onto bags and bags of beer cans for years, but it wasn’t until the late 1960s that he started adding them around the house.
It started with a few strings of cans hanging from trees, but soon Milkovisch was covering the entire structure with flattened cans.
After all, siding was made from aluminum too, so maybe the cans would be good insulation.
And he wouldn’t even have to paint them!
There were also long curtains made of the tops, bottoms and pull tabs.
At one point Milkovisch even tried building a beer can arch over the driveway.
That didn’t stay up, but the rest of the house’s new look did; people started driving by and gawking at the one-of-a-kind building.
John Milkovisch, who worked on the house for nearly the rest of his life, got a kick out of that.
He once said, “They say every man should leave something to be remembered by. At least I accomplished that goal.”
Oh, and if you’re wondering what kind of beer he preferred, the standard answer was, whatever’s on special.
Next: we need a Mountain Dew House, where people enter through a Mega Mouth Slam Can.
If your house is kind of messy after the holidays, well, it could be worse.
There was a contest in the UK where parents sent in pictures of their kids’ cluttered bedrooms.
An 8 year old in Glasgow won the award for messiest room in the country.
She won a new bed, which her parents very much hope will help her stay more organized.
Unless, of course, she’s also planning to keep the old bed in there.
A Man’s 6-Pack Can Serve as His Castle (The New York Times)
Beer Can House History (The Orange Show)
Eight-year-old girl’s bedroom is named messiest in the country (Wales Online)
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