Champagne Velvet Brand Beer Cone Top Can

1952 Champagne Velvet Cone Top

This twelve-ounce cone top can represents a targeted mid-century promotional run by the Terre Haute Brewing Company. Issued in the early 1950s after the expiration of federal tax statement mandates, this container is distinguished by a jagged starburst graphic positioned on the upper label that proclaims "CV-'52 ENJOY IT!". This burst was integrated into the company's 1952 advertising push, sharing the front face with the circular red "CV" emblem, refined script lettering, and the brand's long-celebrated promotional tagline, "The Beer with the Million Dollar Flavor".

First formulated at the turn of the twentieth century by Terre Haute brewmaster Walter Braun, Champagne Velvet became one of the most successful regional lagers in Indiana history. Positioned as a crisp, German-style pilsener brewed with corn, malted barley, and traditional hops, the brand was marketed as an approachable premium beer. Backed by the prominent "Million Dollar Flavor" slogan, Champagne Velvet dominated tavern taps and home refrigerators across the Midwest for decades before corporate buyouts and shifting consumer trends led to its temporary disappearance. In recent decades, the recipe was rediscovered and revived to celebrate historic Hoosier brewing heritage.

The Terre Haute Brewing Company traced its origins to the 1830s before expanding into an industrial powerhouse following its late-nineteenth-century reorganization. By the early 1900s, the company had grown into the seventh-largest brewing operation in the United States. Although Prohibition forced the facility to pivot toward non-alcoholic cereal beverages and soft drinks before temporarily closing, the brewery reopened to massive fanfare following Repeal in 1933. Postwar competition and market consolidation eventually forced the historic facility to cease operations in the late 1950s.

Among collectors of mid-century breweriana, cone top cans featuring dated promotional slogans remain especially desirable artifacts. The "CV-'52" series provides a tangible snapshot of early-1950s packaging design, making this can a standout centerpiece in regional and cone top collections.