Bb Special Export Beer Cone Top Can

Bb Special Export Beer Cone Top Can

This 12-ounce low-profile cone top can represents a classic example of contract packaging from the post-Prohibition era. Identified in the catalog with the tax statement indicator ("T"), the can carries the mandatory Internal Revenue Tax Paid (IRTP) marking along with an alcohol content disclaimer specifying "Bert McDowell, N.O. 4 %" (indicating not over four percent alcohol by weight). The visual design is anchored by an illustrated pilsner glass filled with foaming golden beer, flanked by stylized script letters "B" and the bold block lettering "SPECIAL EXPORT BEER" over a deep blue and bordered ground.

The Brand

Bb Special Export Beer was developed primarily as a distributor brand distributed through wholesale grocers following the repeal of Prohibition. Canned for The Bert McDowell Company, a wholesale grocery operation based in Sacramento and serving Northern California, the label allowed the wholesaler to offer an exclusive house label to regional grocers, taverns, and merchants. Marketed under the straightforward "Special Export" moniker—a common industry naming convention designed to suggest a higher grade and premium aging—the brand catered to value-conscious consumers through grocery channels before fading as major regional and national brands consolidated retail distribution after World War II.

The Brewery

Although packaged for the Bert McDowell wholesale firm, the beer was brewed and canned by the Rainier Brewing Company at its major plant on Bryant Street in San Francisco, California. Originally founded in Washington State, Rainier established significant brewing operations in California following Repeal under the leadership of Louis Hemrich and Joseph Goldie. The San Francisco facility was a massive operation capable of producing hundreds of thousands of barrels per year. In addition to marketing its own prominent proprietary beers and ales, Rainier utilized its extensive canning and bottling line capacity to produce numerous specialty brands and merchant labels for distributors throughout Northern California. Rainier's San Francisco operation remained a major industrial fixture in the city until post-war brewing consolidation shifted market dynamics across the Pacific Coast.

Collecting Context

Low-profile cone tops from the mid-20th century represent a cornerstone of vintage West Coast breweriana. Can collectors prize contract-brewed distributor cans from California because their commercial lifespans were often short compared to a brewery’s primary flagship line. Cans linking prominent regional distributors such as Bert McDowell to major West Coast plants like Rainier's San Francisco facility provide collectors with a fascinating snapshot of regional grocery-wholesaler partnerships in early canned beer history.