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Growing up in the home of a displaced Mountaineer, hundreds of miles from the West Virginia state line, I always took note of the fact that nearly every aluminum can I came across in my young life had the outline of the State of West Virginia printed on the top of the can.

Though I never understood why this was, it always swelled my heart with West Virginia pride to see the outline of my birth state printed onto the cans my entire class was drinking… This was back before bringing soda to school could get you 5-12 years in a federal prison.

After a long and much needed separation from carbonated beverages, I succumbed to the temptation this afternoon and purchased an over priced can of sugar water only to find myself reunited with my childhood curiosity: “Why is an outline of West Virginia on the top of this can?”

Fortunately, I wasn’t alone in my curiosity. Jim Burnell, a former West Virginia resident who now resides in Texas, wondered the same thing: “I grew up in West Virginia, and I just thought it was a West Virginia thing… but I also noticed the symbol on cans after I moved here to Texas.”

One Appalachian Magazine reader even stated, “I remember buying a soda off the local economy in Iraq and seeing this.” But why?

After a little bit of research… and being forced to endure a handful of West Virginia jokes in the process (“It tells West Virginians which end of the can is up”), my quest for truth reached its end.

Turns out, the answer to my childhood question is actually quite simple – it’s all about the money!

According to the Can Manufacturers Institute, based in Washington, D.C., (I wasn’t aware there even was such a thing!) West Virginia is the only state to levy an excise tax on soft drinks and requires that soft drink packaging visibly indicate that the tax has been paid by the distributor.

“West Virginia law requires that an outline of the state be inscribed in a 1/4 inch circle on the can end…” This outline signifies that the product is in compliance with the State of West Virginia if “WV1” is stamped onto the top of the can.

According to Mike Ballburn, “the pop tax started in 1951 to pay for the construction, maintenance and operation of a four-year school of medicine, dentistry and nursing at WVU.”

Throughout the 1990s, the State of Louisiana had a similar tax, however, leaders in Baton Rouge opted to repeal the tax in March 1997.

So the next time you crack open a soda can and notice the outline of West Virginia on the top, take pride in knowing the answer to this somewhat perplexing question!

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