50 Years of Soup Cans Flying Off the Shelves

So what’s all the fuss about soup?  It’s the cans, man. Fiftieth Anniversary Limited-Edition soup cans.

The article I read said the special soup cans would be available at Target (and only Target, what’s up with that?) on Saturday, September 2nd.

Andy Warhol?  Pittsburgh?  Tomato soup cans with colorful labels and a pic of Andy himself?

I thought they’d be a nice addition to the classroom, a conversation piece, honoring our native son- Andy Warhol. Laura said they could be planters or pencil holders.  I had the poster of the giant tomato soup can in my art room for years. I had in mind to get some although I didn’t rush right out the first day they were available.

This is the shelf display on Sunday morning September 3rd.  Another shopper was  stocking up and putting cans in his cart.  I know now that he must have been frustrated when he went to make his purchase.

There was a sign that there would be a limit on the numbers of cans you could buy but did not specify the particulars or numbers.

Maybe that’s changed by now but when I got to the checkout, the cashier told me that I could buy two of each color.  Hmmm.  She took two away and put them under the counter and I was  left with 5 cans to buy.  I asked Steve if he went to Target to look for them and buy a few more as I thought they would be great gifts.

A great souvenir. (and 75 cents!!)  Steve went and bought six cans.  One of the colors was already gone.  There were a lot of cans that were dented and the label was ripped so he left them on the shelf. I wish they weren’t a pop top on the can as they are more likely to be opened by a student who wants to have some fun.

Not long ago, I read an article about the amount of sugar and sodium in a can of tomato soup and that no one should really be eating it but it tastes like childhood to me.  Especially when paired with a toasted cheese sandwich in the winter.  My mother made the whole wheat sandwiches open-face in the broiler-  no grilled cheese for me as a kid, just toasted.  I also like to put extra sharp cheddar cheese in the bottom of the bowl so when you pour the hot soup on top it melts……

But I digress…..

The 11 AM shot of the shelf display- iPhone shots today.  Just one so no chance to get it sharper as you’ll see in the later photo.  I am wondering how they are selling in other parts of the country.

To read more about Campbell’s Soup Cans and Andy Warhol‘s art depicting them, click

And the cans on the shelf at home

I returned to the Target store to pick up photos I took from last week’s 9th grade orientation and thought I would check up on canned soup sales.  Here is what I found when I went to look.

The shelf at 5:00 PM Sunday the third of September