Meister Brau Pilsener Beer Flat Top Can

Meister Bräu Fiesta Pack France Can

Issued in the mid-1950s by the Peter Hand Brewery Company of Chicago, Illinois, this 12-ounce flat top can is part of the brewery's celebrated "Fiesta Pack" international series. Representing the series' salute to France, the can is distinguished by an illustrated row of Parisian can-can dancers encircling the upper red background, shown mid-kick in ruffled petticoats, stockings, and feathered headbands. The primary branding is framed in a prominent white hexagonal cartouche accented in gold, presenting "Pilsener Beer" in script above the bold red "Meister Bräu" title and a golden "FIESTA PACK" designation. Along the lower margin runs the mandatory statement, "BREWED AND PACKED BY PETER HAND BREWERY CO., CHICAGO, ILL."

The Brand

Meister Bräu was the flagship offering of the Peter Hand Brewery, widely marketed across the Midwest as "The Master Brew". During the 1950s, the company turned to themed retail packaging—such as sports, seasonal, and international Fiesta Packs—to add visual novelty to six-packs and appeal to home entertainers. Decades later, the brand played a pivotal role in brewing history: in the late 1960s, the company developed "Meister Brau Lite" using a reduced-carbohydrate formula created by chemist Dr. Joseph Owades. In 1972, Meister Brau sold its labels to the Miller Brewing Company, which retooled the formulation and packaging to create Miller Lite.

The Brewery

Prussian immigrant and Civil War veteran Peter Hand founded his eponymous brewing company on Chicago's North Avenue in 1891. The brewery survived Prohibition through the sale of near-beer and soda syrup, reopening full-scale beer operations immediately upon Repeal in 1933. As national competitors expanded in the postwar decades, Peter Hand endured where dozens of other Chicago breweries failed, eventually surviving as the city’s sole remaining independent commercial brewer. Despite aggressive marketing and a corporate name change to Meister Brau, Inc. in the 1960s, mounting financial losses led to liquidation in the 1970s, closing the chapter on Chicago's historic pre-Prohibition brewing establishments.

Collecting Context

Pictorial sets from the flat top era are among the most dynamic artifacts in breweriana, and Peter Hand's mid-century Fiesta Pack series remains a high point of graphic packaging. Collectors actively pursue the international releases for their mid-century illustration styles and their connection to one of Chicago's defining brewing institutions.