Old Milwaukee Beer Test Can

1966 Old Milwaukee Fluted Test Can

This straight steel test can from 1966 represents an experimental packaging run for the Jos. Schlitz Brewing Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Fitted with a tab top, the most notable engineering detail of this 12-ounce container is its specialized eight-sided fluted lid, complemented by fine vertical fluting lines printed across the white background. The face displays the red Old Milwaukee banner proclaiming "America's Light Beer," an "Old M" eagle crest, and a facsimile signature of Robert A. Uihlein Jr., who served as president of the brewing giant during this era.

Schlitz first introduced the Old Milwaukee name around the turn of the twentieth century. In 1955, the company reintroduced Old Milwaukee as a nationally distributed, popular-priced product designed to capture the growing budget-friendly market. Promoted with slogans highlighting genuine quality, Old Milwaukee became a massive commercial success and one of the best-selling value brands across the country. Following subsequent industry shifts, the label eventually became part of the Pabst Brewing Company portfolio.

The Jos. Schlitz Brewing Company traces its origins to 1849, when August Krug established a modest brewery in Milwaukee. Following Krug's death, bookkeeper Joseph Schlitz took control of the enterprise, and the brewery achieved national prominence after sending shipments of beer to Chicago in the wake of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Steered for generations by Krug's nephews, the Uihlein family, Schlitz grew into one of the largest brewing powerhouses in the world during the mid-twentieth century.

Test cans hold an important place in breweriana collecting. Packaging trials from major mid-century breweries showcase experimental lid constructions, alternative seam technologies, and design prototypes that never saw widespread commercial release, providing collectors with a direct link to historical container development.