Old Milwaukee Beer 16 Oz Bank Can

1973 Old Milwaukee 16 Oz Bank Can

Manufactured in 1973, this 16-ounce straight steel container features a factory bank top manufactured with a coin slot for use as a novelty savings bank rather than standard beverage consumption. Produced during an era when national brewing companies frequently created promotional banks for marketing giveaways and retail promotions, the can showcases the classic red and white Old Milwaukee pattern centered beneath the brewing ingredient declaration and above the Jos. Schlitz Brewing Company heraldic crest. The bottom margin lists six packaging facilities—Longview, Los Angeles, Memphis, Milwaukee, Tampa, and Winston-Salem—with a small dot printed directly over Memphis, designating its plant origin. Built with a wide soldered side seam, this container represents a coin-bank release from a production series where conventional pull tabs were normally anticipated in distribution.

Old Milwaukee was initially introduced in the late nineteenth century and reintroduced during the mid-twentieth century as a popular-priced domestic lager. Designed to give Schlitz a competitive, value-oriented companion to its flagship label, the brand expanded across the country throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Promoted heavily to working-class consumers under themes emphasizing quality brewing tradition—and later made famous by slogans such as "Taste As Great As Its Name"—Old Milwaukee grew into one of the country's best-selling value brands before shifting to the Stroh Brewery Company and ultimately the Pabst portfolio.

The Jos. Schlitz Brewing Company was founded in 1849 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, beginning as a tavern brewery run by August Krug. Following Krug's passing, business manager Joseph Schlitz took command and incorporated the brewery under his own name in 1858. Schlitz exploded into national prominence after shipping substantial supplies of beer to relief efforts during the 1871 Great Chicago Fire, cementing its enduring slogan as "The Beer That Made Milwaukee Famous". Schlitz navigated Prohibition by selling malt extract and soft drinks before launching a post-war nationwide expansion that included major high-capacity plants in cities like Memphis.

Bank top cans hold a dedicated place in breweriana collections, bridging the gap between beer packaging history and vintage novelty advertising. Pint-sized steel bank cans displaying multi-city listings and plant-identifying dot markings are especially valued by collectors seeking to trace the regional manufacturing networks of America's legacy brewing giants.