One Thousand Natural Process Beer Flat Top Can

Gettelman $1000 Natural Process

This 12-ounce flat top can from the 1950s represents one of Milwaukee’s most enduring packaging themes: the $1,000 purity challenge. The design prominently features a red oval emblem depicting a hand raising a pilsner glass with the motto "Pure Malt and Hops," along with a Wisconsin registration statement at the top rim. Across the lower dark band, the can showcases the brewery's famous pledge: a $1,000 reward paid to anyone who can prove that any substitute was used in place of pure malt and hops during brewing.

The brand's backstory dates back to 1891, when brewery leader Adam Gettelman introduced the "$1,000 Beer" campaign. During an era when American commercial breweries began widely adopting adjunct grains like corn and rice to reduce production costs, Gettelman doubled down on traditional ingredients. The monetary wager served as the centerpiece of the company's identity across billboards, print ads, and catchy jingles like "Get—Get—Gettelman!" Throughout the brand's multi-decade run, the bounty famously went unclaimed by chemists and consumers alike.

The brewery itself was established in 1856 in the Menomonee Valley by George Schweickhart before Adam Gettelman assumed ownership in the 1870s and renamed the enterprise the A. Gettelman Brewing Company. Operating as the spirited underdog among Milwaukee's "Big Five" brewing titans—competing alongside Pabst, Schlitz, Blatz, and neighboring Miller—Gettelman retained strong local loyalty. The brewery survived Prohibition by producing near-beer and manufacturing industrial equipment, later returning to regional prominence after repeal. In 1961, the family-run brewery was acquired by neighbor Miller Brewing Company, which integrated the facility into its broader Milwaukee campus.

For breweriana enthusiasts, this flat top can is an essential artifact of Milwaukee’s golden brewing era. The bold financial guarantee and vintage layout stand out among mid-century cans, serving as a reminder of the historic marketing rivalries that helped establish Wisconsin as America's brewing capital.