Iron City Beer 12 Oz Tab Top Can

Iron City Snap Top History

Produced by the Pittsburgh Brewing Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the 12-ounce Iron City Beer tab top can marks a major milestone in beverage packaging history. In 1962, the brewery partnered with the Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa) to introduce the self-opening tab top to the commercial market.

Alcoa adapted Ermal Fraze's scored-lid concept to create the aluminum pull-tab closure, and Pittsburgh Brewing became the first commercial partner to test the design. Iron City Beer in these new cans was test-marketed in the Staunton, Virginia area in late 1962. The release was an immense success, prompting the brewery to transition its canning operations and reporting that canned beer sales surged significantly.

Following the successful rollout, the brewery promoted the feature directly on the can's artwork, incorporating banners announcing the "New Easy Open Snap Top" and later "No. 1 with the Snap Top".

Among collectors, the Iron City tab top is celebrated as the can that sparked an industry-wide shift throughout the 1960s, leading nearly every major American brewer to adopt similar self-opening tops. Multiple variations of the can exist, reflecting early test designs as well as subsequent promotional and production releases.