Colt 45 Malt Liquor 12 Oz Tab Top Can

Colt 45 Malt Liquor Detroit Tab Top

This straight steel twelve-ounce tab top can represents a mid-1960s release of Colt 45 Malt Liquor, designated under catalog caption NB-308. Brewed and packaged by National Brewing Company of Michigan in Detroit, the can features the brand's bold blue serif typography accompanied by a striking red colt clearing a hurdle within a golden horseshoe emblem. Beneath the emblem, "BY NATIONAL" is printed in clean capital letters, directly linking this container to the company's Midwestern production facility.

National Brewing introduced Colt 45 in the spring of 1963 to capture a share of the expanding malt liquor market. Rather than referencing firearms, the beverage took its name in tribute to running back Jerry Hill, who wore jersey number 45 for the Baltimore Colts, an NFL franchise National sponsored. Colt 45 gained nationwide prominence through humorous, memorable advertising campaigns. In popular television commercials, actor Billy Van sat serenely at a small patio table while chaotic stunts, avalanches, or charging bulls passed within inches of him as he patiently waited for a glass of Colt 45, anchored by the tagline, "In a class by itself." In subsequent decades, actor Billy Dee Williams served as the suave brand spokesman. Colt 45 ultimately became one of the most recognizable malt liquor labels in the United States and continues production under the Pabst Brewing Company.

The National Brewing Company was founded in 1885 in Baltimore, Maryland. The brewery survived the dry years of Prohibition by marketing near-beer and operating commercial ice facilities. Following repeal, executive Jerold Hoffberger led an aggressive national expansion effort. To establish a presence in the upper Midwest, National purchased Detroit's Altes Brewing Company in 1954, reorganizing the plant as the National Brewing Company of Michigan. Increasing competition from macro-breweries forced regional consolidations in the 1970s; National merged with Carling in 1975, was acquired by G. Heileman in 1979, and the Detroit facility was eventually decommissioned.

For breweriana hobbyists, straight steel tab tops from the 1960s chronicle a transitional period in packaging design during the rise of the malt liquor category. Because National packaged Colt 45 across multiple brewing facilities, collectors value tracking different city mandatories and mandatory text variations that document the company's geographic distribution during the brand's early peak.