Old Milwaukee Draft Test Can

Old Milwaukee Draft Paper Test Can

This straight steel tab top container represents a prototype phase for Old Milwaukee's packaged draft beer marketing. Featuring an applied paper label rather than traditional direct lithography, it showcases concept design work from the Jos. Schlitz Brewing Company that references four brewery cities. A notable element of the label is an engraving-style tavern scene illustrating nineteenth-century workers delivering barrels from a horse-drawn wagon, set above narrative text recounting the brewery's 1890s draft brew crafted for local innkeepers.

Jos. Schlitz originally brewed Old Milwaukee in the late nineteenth century before reintroducing the label in the mid-twentieth century as a value-priced companion to its flagship beer. Positioned to compete directly against regional and budget lagers, Old Milwaukee grew into a nationwide powerhouse. The brand became widely recognized through memorable advertising campaigns celebrating working-class camaraderie, highlighted by slogans such as "Taste as great as its name" and "It doesn't get any better than this." The label later broadened to include various line extensions and survived multiple industry realignments.

The Jos. Schlitz Brewing Company traces its origins to 1849 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where August Krug founded a modest brewing operation. Joseph Schlitz assumed control following Krug's death, steering the firm to national prominence after supplying beer to Chicago during the aftermath of the 1871 Great Chicago Fire—an event that helped coin the enduring phrase, "The Beer That Made Milwaukee Famous." Schlitz expanded rapidly into one of the largest brewing enterprises in the United States. However, production changes, recipe adjustments, and a damaging workers' strike in the 1970s triggered steep market declines, ultimately leading to the brewery's acquisition by the Stroh Brewery Company in 1982, with the brand rights later transferring to the Pabst Brewing Company.

Paper-label test cans hold significant appeal among breweriana collectors. Functioning as tangible records of brewery research and development, these prototype mockups illustrate packaging concepts evaluated prior to full-scale canning runs and offer clear insight into vintage branding strategy.