Wow.... what an extreme range of emotion over a simple object!

I never understand why people get so het up over tankards. To me it's a useful item. And the few I own I bought because their looks pleased me.

I first started drinking out of tankards simply because I hate trying to drink out of those wobbly plastic glasses. On more than one occasion I'd end up with cider all down me front after being knocked by some eejit in a crowded bar (the instictive reaction to grip your pint glass harder when your arm is jogged kinda backfires when holding a wobbly plastic 'glass'), not to mention that they often were highly unstable. I lost more than one pint when the other side of a table was knocked, or the ground wasn't as level as I thought. I use my tankard whenever I know I'm going to be drinking outside (picnics etc), or at places I know I'll be moving around between venues, or I'll be away from my pint (easier to recognise when I come back), not just folk events.

As I used to mainly drink cider I originally bought a stainless steel tankard. Later, a very nice man called Tim Westwood came up with very fetching tankards made out of pewter that was far more inert in the prescence of acid (and no, they aren't loaded with cadmium Micca) so I bought a couple of those.

Now I mainly drink beer, but my tankards are still preferable to drinking out of wobbly plastics and, let's face it, a lot more eco friendly than all those disposable plastics. Pewter shouldn't affect the taste of your beer, unless you're one of those people who (gaggingly) insist that one should never use more than water to rinse your tankard out with - Blech!

I think Ewan(SAM) is right about the tribal signifier thing. It did used to pretty much be the sign of a folkie (regardless of gender or age)- that if you saw either a leather pouch or a tankard hanging off a body's belt, odds on they were a folkie. But to go on with this idea, musical boundaries are blurring and it's far more common to see people who are into various types of music at folk events and their 'tribal signifiers' are more likely to be from their main interests, or from the group they feel most associated with.

But mostly, have a tankard or don't. It's just a cup.