Old Vienna Type Beer Cone Top Can

Old Vienna Type Beer Cone Top

This 12-ounce high-profile cone top container was produced in the post-World War II era for the Koch Beverage & Ice Company of Wapakoneta, Ohio. Manufactured by the Continental Can Company, the container features a clean, cream-toned body framed by gold and red bands. The central face is anchored by a stylized "OV" monogram crest crowned with heraldic ornamentation, set above the bold red and gold typography reading "Old Vienna Type Premium Quality Beer." Along the lower rim, the mandatory text proclaims "Brewed Since 1862 and Canned by Koch Beverage & Ice Co., Inc. Wapakoneta, Ohio".

The Old Vienna brand was established by Koch following the Repeal of Prohibition in 1933. Marketed to evoke classic European brewing traditions, the beer was positioned as a premium regional lager. Advertisements of the period touted that "Old Vienna Is a Better Beer," appealing to consumers across west-central Ohio. While the name "Old Vienna" would later become famous across North America through Canadian Breweries and Molson, Koch's version served as a dependable staple for its local market throughout the 1930s and 1940s.

The brewery's lineage originated in 1862 when Charles Kolter and his brother established a small brewing facility on North Water Street in Wapakoneta. In 1884, Henry Koch joined the business to form Kolter & Koch, which subsequently incorporated as the City Brewing Company in 1893. When national Prohibition arrived in 1920, the firm adapted by reorganizing as The Koch Beverage Company, surviving dry years through the manufacture of commercial ice, soda water, and near-beer. Upon Repeal, the enterprise resumed brewing operations as the Koch Beverage & Ice Company. Facing escalating competition from larger regional and national shipping breweries, the small plant permanently ceased brewing in 1951.

For breweriana enthusiasts, this cone top represents a prized piece of Ohio brewing heritage. As the output of a small-town municipal operation that vanished in the early 1950s, it captures the final chapter of independent local brewing in Auglaize County before postwar industry consolidation swept regional labels from the market.