102 Genuine Draft 12 Oz Zip/Tab/Insert Top Can

102 Genuine Draft 12 Oz Steel Can

This twelve-ounce straight steel can from the late 1960s represents the self-opening era for Maier Brewing Company. Set against a clean white background, the can prominently displays a bold black "102" above a metallic blue panel framed by fine pinstripes. Centered within this reflective field is an illustrated stemmed pilsner glass crowned with foaming head, layered beneath the word "GENUINE" and a bright red "DRAFT" banner. As an earlier production run of this label style, this version does not include a postal ZIP code in the brewery address. It was manufactured across different self-opening closure formats of the period, including insert tops and pull tabs.

The "102" brand originated with Maier's flagship Brew 102, which debuted in the early 1950s and became an iconic, value-priced staple across Southern California. By the mid-to-late 1960s, regional and national breweries alike rushed to introduce packaged draft beers promoted as bringing brewery-fresh flavor straight from the tap into home refrigerators. Maier followed suit with 102 Genuine Draft, marketing an approachable draft profile packaged in convenient single-serve cans to retain its strong hold on the working-class West Coast market.

Maier Brewing Company maintained deep roots in downtown Los Angeles. Tracing its lineage back to the 1870s as the Philadelphia Brewery, the operation became Maier & Zobelein in 1882 before taking on the Maier Brewing Company name in 1907. The brewery weathered severe challenges over the decades, including federal enforcement raids during Prohibition and fierce postwar rivalry from national brewing giants. By the 1960s, Maier remained one of the few surviving independent breweries in Los Angeles. Brewing baron Paul Kalmanovitz acquired the company in 1971 and merged it into General Brewing Company, eventually shuttering the historic downtown plant in 1974.

For breweriana collectors, this can serves as a notable artifact of Southern California brewing history. It captures both the late-1960s industry craze for packaged draft products and the rapid technological evolution of self-opening steel cans, where subtle differences between metallic finishes, enamel inks, and lid styles provide rich depth for regional collections.