Bottle benefits

"The stubby is being reinterpreted ... as a discreet way of protecting a national industry," CBC News reporter Colin Butler writes in a recent story about a long-gone (but once ubiquitous) style of beer bottle.

Research by Heather Thompson at Carleton University inspired the article, which says the stubby "was the keystone in a closed-loop Canadian bottling system that kept costs down for domestic brewers while it kept foreign brewers out." 

A 1984 report on the stubby's demise, by Fred Langan for CBC's The Journal, focused less on the bottle's economic benefits and more on why brewers began to favour long necks. "The brewers wanted to stand out, to be unique," he said.

All-day picnic

Back in May, CBC Music compiled a list of 46 music festivals you won't want to miss this summer, including the Cavendish Beach Music Festival in P.E.I., Ottawa Bluesfest and the Winnipeg Folk Festival this week alone. 

In the summer of 1981, CBC News attended the Police Picnic, a one-day event in Oakville, Ont., which could have been on such a list. A review in the Globe and Mail said musical acts that performed at the concert included John Otway, Killing Joke, Nash the Slash, The Specials, the Police and Iggy Pop.

"The promoters of this show had to sell 16,000 tickets, at $20 each, to break even. By 2 o'clock, they'd made their money back," said reporter Dana Karkheck. "It was a great day for everyone." 

Stage presence

The aforementioned Nash the Slash is having a renaissance, CBC Radio's Commotion recently learned. The enigmatic musician, whose real name was Jeff Plewman, was active in the 1970s and '80s and died in 2014.

As a guest on the CBC youth program Switchback, Nash the Slash told host Dale Martindale he got his name from a Laurel and Hardy movie. 

"They were playing these two detectives looking for this maniac killer named Nash the Slash," the musician said. "Made a good stage name, you know."