Olde Virginia Special Export Beer Cone Top Can

Olde Virginia Special Cone Top Can

Manufactured in the early 1950s by the Continental Can Company, this twelve-ounce high-profile cone top represents the post-Prohibition packaging era for the Virginia Brewing Company. Because the can lacks the Internal Revenue Tax Paid (IRTP) mandatory statement—which was phased out by federal regulations in March 1950—it dates specifically to the final decade of the brewery's operations. The container is topped with a period crown reading "VA. TAX PAID 2 CENTS - 12 OZ," reflecting mid-century state excise tax compliance. The graphic presentation heavily integrates regional motifs, including a bold red silhouette of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the northern cardinal (the state bird), and white dogwood blossoms (the state flower).

Olde Virginia Special Export Beer was positioned by the brewery as an accessible, popular-priced regional lager. Packaged to compete directly against large national shipping beers, it was distributed throughout Virginia as well as neighboring markets across Kentucky, North Carolina, and West Virginia. The brand's marketing emphasized regional identity and heritage, framing the brew as a dependable local product made specifically for mid-Atlantic consumers.

The Virginia Brewing Company was founded in Roanoke in December 1889 by German immigrant brewmaster L. A. Scholz and company president Herman Crueger. Establishing a large plant equipped with modern refrigeration, the company operated commercial cold storage, produced ice, and bottled soft drinks alongside its brewing portfolio. Virginia's early adoption of statewide prohibition forced the plant to halt beer production in 1916. Following national Repeal, the enterprise reorganized in 1934 as the Virginia Brewing Company, Inc., modernizing its packaging capabilities after World War II to introduce cone top cans. Facing fierce pressure from consolidating national shipping giants, the firm was reorganized briefly as the Mountain Brewing Company in 1958 before permanently closing in 1959.

Among breweriana collectors, Southern cone tops from the mid-twentieth century hold strong appeal due to the relatively small number of independent regional breweries that operated in the South during that period. This can stands as a prominent artifact of Virginia's post-Repeal brewing heritage and post-war container history.