Olympia Pale Export Type Beer 12 Oz Tab Top Can

Olympia Pale Export Tab Top Can

The Olympia Pale Export Type Beer 12 oz can represents a classic mid-century straight steel tab top container produced with a clean enamel finish. Its face displays the brand's traditional trade dress, crowned by bold typography above a downward-pointing "Good Luck" horseshoe enclosing a vignette of Tumwater Falls. Below the scenic emblem, the can highlights the celebrated red script slogan "It's the Water" and the long-standing statement declaring that the purity and solvent properties of the region's artesian water enabled the brewery to attain perfection in the art of brewing. Mandatory text across the top specifies that the beer was brewed and filled by Olympia Brewing Company in Olympia, Washington.

Leopold Schmidt originally formulated Pale Export in 1896 as the flagship product of his new enterprise, relying entirely on the mineral-rich artesian springs of Tumwater. In 1902, brewery officer Frank M. Kenney coined the immortal slogan "It's the Water," launching one of the most effective and memorable promotional slogans in American brewing history. The horseshoe motif drew from Schmidt family tradition, carrying the symbolic belief that a downward-facing shoe poured continuous fortune and refreshment upon the person holding it.

Initially founded as the Capital Brewing Company, the firm officially took the name Olympia Brewing Company in 1902. When Washington enacted statewide prohibition in 1916—years prior to nationwide Prohibition—the brewery ceased alcohol production and diversified into juice and fruit products before temporarily closing. After repeal, the Schmidt family constructed a modern brewing facility and resumed operations in 1934, propelling Olympia to become one of the dominant brewing powerhouses of the American West. Changing market dynamics led to its acquisition by G. Heileman in 1983, with subsequent ownership transfers culminating in the closure of the historic Tumwater plant in 2003.

For breweriana collectors, steel tab tops from Olympia hold enduring appeal as icons of Pacific Northwest brewing heritage. They serve as prime artifacts from the post-repeal golden age of regional brewing, representing the era when regional identity and natural resources defined mainstream American beer branding.