Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer Flat Top Can

Wartime Pabst Blue Ribbon Flat Top

During World War II, commercial canning of beer for domestic civilian consumption was halted to conserve vital metals for the war effort. Breweries were permitted to can beer exclusively for American armed forces serving overseas and on military installations. This 12-ounce flat top can represents that wartime period, featuring a non-reflective, olive-drab finish designed to minimize glare in combat zones and keep troops concealed. Bearing a tax statement indicating it was withdrawn free of internal revenue tax for military distribution, the can also lists two brewing cities—Peoria Heights, Illinois, and Milwaukee, Wisconsin—alongside dual volume markings in both fluid ounces and centiliters.

Originally launched by the brewery as Best Select, the brand gained immense popularity when it won top honors at various agricultural fairs and the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. Brewery workers originally hand-tied silk blue ribbons around the necks of the bottles to distinguish the prize-winning brew, leading customers to constantly ask for "the blue ribbon beer." Pabst officially renamed the flagship brew Pabst Blue Ribbon in 1898. Over the decades, PBR built a vast national presence through memorable slogans such as "33 Fine Brews Blended into One Great Beer" and the mid-century catchphrase "What'll you have? Pabst Blue Ribbon!"

Founded in Milwaukee in 1844 by Jacob Best and later developed into an industry powerhouse by Captain Frederick Pabst, the company survived Prohibition by producing cheese, malt syrups, and soft drinks. Following repeal, Pabst merged with Peoria-based Premier Malt Products and converted a former distillery in Peoria Heights into a massive brewing facility in 1934. The Peoria Heights plant quickly grew into one of the largest brewing operations in the nation, operating for nearly fifty years until closing in 1982 amid nationwide industry consolidation.

Wartime military cans hold a celebrated place in breweriana collecting. Olive-drab flat tops from major national brewers such as Pabst provide tangible historical links to twentieth-century wartime manufacturing and the overseas deployment of American domestic staples.