the song that comes to my mind is actually Hank Williams’ “My Bucket’s Got a Hole in it,” a song whose lyrics are indelible in my mind because of the line “… I can’t buy no beer” — which indicates a time/context in which people bought beer by the bucket-full, supplying their own bucket.

Posted by James on 22 November 02009 @ 1pm

Yeah, I didn’t understand that one until a few years ago, either. It was while reading about the history of the beer stein, which is apparently based on the concept of the bucket, only small enough to drink out of. Hence the lid.

Posted by Waldo Jaquith on 22 November 02009 @ 6pm

One thing I really enjoyed while living in a small town in New Mexico a few years ago was that I could walk to the town brewery (about a block away) and get a growler of beer filled from the tap, which I then took back home for dinner.

Used a glass jar with a cap instead of a bucket, but that’s really just a refinement…

Posted by Jeff Uphoff on 23 November 02009 @ 7am