Bavarian's Old Style Beer Cone Top Can

Covington's Postwar Cone Top

This twelve-ounce high-profile cone top represents the postwar packaging era of Northern Kentucky brewing. Produced in the early 1950s, the container notably lacks the "Internal Revenue Tax Paid" (IRTP) mandatory statement, dating its manufacture after the federal government rescinded that statutory labeling requirement in 1950. The front display pairs stylized blackletter script with a circular crest depicting rampant lions holding mash paddles over a brewing tun below the intertwined "B Co" initials. This container design served as Bavarian's primary canned offering before the company modernized its packaging lines and shifted production toward flat top cans in the mid-1950s.

Bavarian introduced the Old Style Beer brand name in early 1946 to replace its prewar Bavarian Master Brand Beer following the easing of wartime grain restrictions. Positioned as a hearty, traditional regional lager, the brew was aggressively promoted across the greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky metropolitan area under the straightforward slogan, "A Man's Beer". The company embraced early broadcast marketing, sponsoring television shows such as Midwestern Hayride alongside extensive radio and billboard campaigns that prominently featured Cincinnati Reds baseball at Crosley Field. Bavarian continued distributing the brand until updating its flagship formula and packaging to Bavarian's Select Beer in 1957.

The Bavarian Brewing Company traced its roots to 1866 in Covington, rising to local dominance under German immigrant William Riedlin, who took full ownership in the 1880s. Guided through multiple generations by the related Riedlin and Schott families, the firm endured Prohibition by producing near beer, soft drinks, and commercial ice. Following repeal, Bavarian modernized its facilities and expanded, eventually purchasing Covington's Heidelberg Brewing Company plant in the 1950s to satisfy regional demand. However, escalating marketing pressure from national shipping breweries led to Bavarian's sale in 1959 to International Breweries, Inc. (IBI), which shuttered the historic Covington facility in 1966.

Within breweriana collecting, this can holds significance as one of the defining postwar artifacts from Kentucky's storied brewing heritage. Regional cone tops from the twilight of the style highlight an important technological crossroads in American beverage packaging, anchoring collections devoted to the vibrant brewing history of the Ohio River valley.