Iron City Beer 12 Oz Tab Top Can

Pioneer of the Tab Top Can

The Iron City Beer 12 oz tab top can produced by the Pittsburgh Brewing Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, holds a landmark place in breweriana and packaging history. In 1962, Pittsburgh Brewing Company partnered with the Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa) to commercialize the pull tab closure developed from the design by inventor Ermal Fraze. Through this historic collaboration, Iron City became the first beer brand in the world to bring self-opening tab top cans to the market.

Iron City test-marketed the new can in Staunton, Virginia, in late 1962, promoting the feature under names such as the "Snap Top" and "Zip Top". The test proved immensely successful, with local sales doubling in just two months and prompting Pittsburgh Brewing Company to convert its canned production lines to the new format. Iron City's breakthrough set off a rapid revolution across the entire beverage packaging industry as competing breweries rushed to adopt pull-tab closures.

For collectors, this can serves as a foundational piece representing the dawn of modern beverage packaging. Variations exist across production runs, including early promotional cans featuring slogans heralding the arrival of the snap top, as well as subsequent issues displaying differences in instructional text and lid stampings.