Cream Top Beer Flat Top Can

Manhattan Cream Top Flat Top

The Cream Top Beer flat top can was produced by the Manhattan Brewing Company of Chicago, Illinois, and manufactured by the American Can Company using their Keglined process. In addition to its Chicago distribution, the Cream Top label has a notable historical connection to contract canning arrangements involving the Whitewater Brewing Company of Whitewater, Wisconsin, which utilized Manhattan Brewing Company's canning facilities to package the brand.

The can's design features bold Cream Top lettering set against contrasting color-blocked panels, accompanied by opening instruction text along the side panels and an "Internal Revenue Tax Paid" (IRTP) statement.

Known variations exist among surviving examples. These variations feature subtle differences in the mandatory brewery city designations, instructional text phrasing, and American Can Company manufacturing marks along the seam.

Among breweriana collectors, the Cream Top flat top represents an important artifact of mid-century Midwestern brewing networks and contract packaging operations.