Cook's Goldblume Beer Cone Top Can

Cook's Goldblume Beer Cone Top

This 12-ounce high-profile cone top container dates to the early 1950s, manufactured for the F. W. Cook Company, Inc. of Evansville, Indiana. The label showcases a patriotic red, white, and blue motif centered around a serrated sunburst seal enclosing the brewery's circular star-and-ribbon insignia. Flanked by accent stars and vertical striping, the face of the can features bold script paired with a distinct red horizontal band framing the Goldblume name above the beer designation.

Goldblume served as the undisputed flagship label of the F. W. Cook brewing operation for generations. First introduced in the late nineteenth century, the German-derived name translates to "golden flower," emphasizing the bright, golden quality of the lager. Cook's marketed the brand heavily throughout the Ohio River Valley and across the South with prominent billboards, tavern signs, and athletic sponsorships, including a celebrated local semi-pro baseball team dubbed the Cook's Goldblumes. The Goldblume name outlived the original brewery itself, continuing production under contract at other facilities into the 1970s before experiencing a regional revival in later decades.

The brewery's origins trace back to 1853, when Frederick Washington Cook and his partner Louis Rice established the City Brewery in Evansville. Reorganized as the F. W. Cook Brewing Company in 1885, the company survived an 1891 fire that prompted the construction of an expansive, modern industrial complex. During Prohibition, the enterprise adapted by producing near-beer and non-alcoholic drinks as the Cook Beverage Company. After Repeal, the brewery returned to commercial beer production under the name F. W. Cook Company, Inc. The plant was eventually purchased in the 1950s by Terre Haute businessman Anton Hulman Jr., but escalating competition from emerging national brewing conglomerates led to its closure in the late 1950s. The historic multi-story Evansville brewery was later razed during the 1960s for urban redevelopment.

Among breweriana collectors, this can stands as a celebrated relic of southern Indiana brewing history. High-profile cone tops from the final golden years of independent regional brewing hold enduring appeal for collectors of Midwestern labels, post-war commercial graphics, and historic American regional breweries.