Olympia Export Type Beer 16 Oz Tab Top Can

Olympia Export Type 16 Oz Tab Top Can

This 16-ounce aluminum tab top can represents a defining late-1970s era for the Olympia Brewing Company. Standing out as a full one-pint container, it reflects key manufacturing and regulatory shifts of its period, featuring dual volume markings in fluid ounces and metric units (473 ml), a printed UPC barcode on the lower side panel, and the script designation "Export Type" displayed above the brand name. Notably, the top mandatory statement lists two brewing locations—Olympia, Washington, and St. Paul, Minnesota—placing the package after Olympia's expansion eastward.

Olympia Beer was introduced to the Pacific Northwest in the late 19th century as a crisp lager marketed heavily around the purity of its brewing ingredients. Central to its identity was the famous slogan "It’s the Water," coined at the turn of the century to highlight the natural artesian wells feeding the brewhouse. The front panel showcases this heritage with a "Good Luck" horseshoe framing a scenic view of Tumwater Falls, surrounded by clusters of hops and barley.

The brewery was founded in 1896 when German immigrant brewmaster Leopold Schmidt established the Capital Brewing Company at Tumwater Falls on the Deschutes River. Renamed the Olympia Brewing Company in 1902, the enterprise became one of the dominant breweries in the western United States. Washington enacted statewide prohibition in 1916—four years ahead of national Prohibition—forcing the Schmidt family to survive by manufacturing fruit juices and non-alcoholic beverages until legal brewing resumed in 1934. To compete against national conglomerates, Olympia acquired the Theodore Hamm plant in St. Paul in 1975. The company was ultimately purchased by Pabst in 1983, and brewing at the historic Tumwater facility ceased in 2003.

For breweriana enthusiasts, this can offers an engaging window into the evolution of Pacific Northwest beer packaging. Collectors of 16-ounce cans value how multi-city brewing mandatories, barcode integration, and subtle typography shifts reflect the corporate history of beloved regional brands.