Goldcrest 51 Beer Cone Top Can

Goldcrest 51 Memphis Cone Top

Produced in the late 1940s by the Tennessee Brewing Company of Memphis, Tennessee, this twelve-ounce cone top can represents a notable chapter in Mid-South brewing history. The can features a high-profile cone top construction and bears an "Internal Revenue Tax Paid" (IRTP) mandatory statement along the rim of its label, dating its manufacture to the immediate post–World War II era before federal tax-paid marking requirements ended in 1950. Unlike later company designs that amended the label to read "Premium," this version plainly designates the product as "Beer" beneath the bold diagonal brand banner, complemented by a crimson emblem declaring "Over 51 Years" and the brewery's trademark seal.

Following the repeal of Prohibition, the company introduced Goldcrest as its flagship product. In 1938, the brewery updated the label to "Goldcrest 51" in celebration of passing a half-century of operation. Marketed with slogans such as "The Finest Beer You Ever Tasted," the lager established deep regional loyalty across the Mid-South. The brewery prioritized returnable glass bottles for local tavern and grocery distribution, so canned packaging represented only a small fraction of overall output before the label ceased production in the 1950s.

The Tennessee Brewing Company traced its beginnings to 1877 under the name Memphis Brewing Company, but its major ascent started in 1885 when John Wolfgang Schorr and Casper Koehler acquired the firm. In 1890, the brewery constructed an imposing Romanesque Revival brick facility on the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River. By 1903, output expanded to 250,000 barrels annually, making it the largest brewing operation in the South. Although Prohibition halted brewing operations, the Schorr family revived the business following Repeal. Intensifying competition from expanding national shipping breweries ultimately forced the Memphis plant to shutter permanently in 1954.

Southern cone tops from the tax-paid era remain especially appealing to breweriana collectors. Because the Tennessee Brewing Company canned beer for only a narrow window toward the end of its long history, surviving packaging from this historic riverfront brewery serves as an authentic artifact of southern brewing culture.