A Toby jug of Winston Churchill is flanked by jugs of an unknown 18th century figure and Capt. James T. Kirk of Star Trek fame. [Click to enlarge]

Why do college students take their beer from run-of-the-mill cheap kegs and plastic cups? Because unlike the English, they have not discovered the pleasure of pouring their beer out of a likeness of the village idiot or Margaret Thatcher.

More than 200 years' worth of such figures of public and town life -- from the Queen Mother to Star Trek's the Borg -- are a part of the long and humorous drinking tradition of English Toby jugs, which originally were used as beer pitchers in 18th-century Britain.

Kevin Pearson, owner of British Collectibles, 917 Chicago Ave., makes his living carrying on this tradition. In addition to selling jugs and other trinkets via Internet and mail-order, Pearson, 45, displays the world's largest private collection of Toby jugs -- more than 6,000 pieces -- in his American Toby Jug Museum, just off the main floor of his warehouse.

Jugs from the 1700s form the base of Pearson's collection. They are usually about the size of a coffee mug or beer stein, though one three-foot replica of a traditional Toby is on display.

Because the jugs are precious, Pearson has his three-legged poodle, Cassie, watch the shop.

Many were designed by Pearson, who has potters in England make Toby jugs depicting political, historical, literary and popular culture figures. His neatly arranged glass case exhibit of jugs includes likenesses of Winston Churchill, Abraham Lincoln and Star Trek characters.

Designing the jugs enables Pearson to express his sense of humor and occasionally to make political statements. His figures include several more-hideous-than-life Thatchers and a caricatured Mikhail Gorbachev sitting contentedly on top of the Berlin Wall.

Despite the novelty of Tobies, Pearson decided a few years ago that he wanted to sell a smaller and less expensive product. He came up with face pots, small porcelain containers with squat replicas of faces serving as lids. The face pots include some figures not on Tobies, such as Marilyn Monroe and John Lennon. Toby jugs can cost more than $100, but face pots usually are about $60.

In the early 1700s, English manufacturer Ralph Wood invented the Toby jug. After the death of Squire Toby Philpot -- "one of the biggest drinkers in the land," Pearson says -- a folk song sprang up about his notorious thirst. The song speaks of Toby's body being dissolved into the clay, made into an ale jug, in which Toby's spirit lives on.

"The thinking behind (the jug) was they just represented a working man enjoying a pint after a day's work," Pearson says.

As the jugs evolved, designs included historical and political figures and some female characters that were "very disparaging toward women at the start."

One classic Toby character, the ugly Gin Woman, is portrayed as a "drunken, leering slut." There are many other recurring figures, like the Snuff-Taker and the Drunken Parson.

Jugs, having lost favor with beer drinkers long ago, now are aimed at a less general market. Modern Toby fans are mostly Anglophiles and 45- to 70-year-old women, Pearson says.

But Tobies have seen a revival in the 20th century -- British Collectibles brings in about $1.5 million per year -- more as collectors items than among those seeking an authentic vintage British drinking experience .

"We cater to people looking to build serious collections," Pearson says. "It's not very practical, but people just like them from an ornamental point of view."

Pearson earned an MBA and undergraduate degrees in economics and political science at Leeds College and the University of Bradford in England, but his interest in British pottery led him and a friend to start a small publishing company. In 1984 Pearson wrote and published The Toby Jug Collector's Handbook.

When he had some jugs made to promote the books his company published, the jugs sold faster than the books and Pearson found a new business.

He originally sold Tobies and other antiques in Detroit. About nine years ago he married a woman from Chicago and ended up finding his current space in Evanston.

The creative challenge and relative independence of the collectibles business makes the work enjoyable for Pearson, who worked on radio advertisements in Britain.

"I had two years in the corporate world and I hated it."

But like corporate businessmen, Pearson has capitalized on recent trends. He already carries George W. Bush pieces and plans to release John Kerry face pots later this year.

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