Old Milwaukee Beer 14 Oz Tab Top Can

1973 Old Milwaukee 14 Oz Memphis Can

This 14-ounce straight steel tab top container dates to 1973 and features the traditional red-and-white damask motif of Jos. Schlitz Brewing Company's Old Milwaukee label. Standing out for its non-standard 14-fluid-ounce volume, the can belongs to a series of regional mid-1970s packaging releases. The bottom mandatory text lists six brewing locations—Longview, Los Angeles, Memphis, Milwaukee, Tampa, and Winston-Salem—with a small dot positioned directly above "Memphis" to designate the facility where this container was filled.

Jos. Schlitz originally introduced the Old Milwaukee name in the late nineteenth century, periodically reviving it before establishing the brew in the 1950s as the company's flagship value-priced brand. Positioned to compete directly against other popular-priced domestic lagers, Old Milwaukee became a massive commercial success for Schlitz throughout the 1960s and 1970s. The brand was promoted heavily for its working-class appeal, eventually achieving cultural renown through its long-running slogan, "It Doesn't Get Any Better Than This." Following industry consolidation in the late twentieth century, ownership of the brand eventually transitioned through Stroh and into the Pabst Brewing Company portfolio.

The Jos. Schlitz Brewing Company traced its origins to 1849, when August Krug established a brewery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Joseph Schlitz assumed control following Krug's death, incorporating the business under his own name and developing it into a national powerhouse celebrated as "The Beer That Made Milwaukee Famous". By the early 1970s, Schlitz was operating near peak capacity and invested heavily in modern regional breweries, including its large-scale Memphis, Tennessee packaging plant.

For breweriana collectors, 14-ounce cans represent an appealing niche among odd-sized containers. Because major breweries typically reserved off-size capacities for restricted regional markets, they did not see the nationwide distribution volume of standard 12-ounce or 16-ounce issues. Additionally, collectors who focus on Schlitz family brands value the subtle city-indicator dots used across various production centers to identify specific canning lines.