Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer Flat Top Can

Mid-Century Pabst Blue Ribbon Flat Top

This 10-ounce flat top can represents one of the most recognizable graphic identities in American brewing history. Anchored by a bold red diagonal sash across an off-white background, the front panel prominently features the signature blue ribbon rosette with the classic Pabst script. The top banner highlights the legacy claim, "This is the ORIGINAL Pabst Blue Ribbon beer," noting that the recipe uses select grains and hops and was "Selected as America's Best in 1893" in reference to the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. At the bottom, the circular Pabst Breweries emblem accompanies the "ESTABLISHED 1844" founding mark.

Originally introduced by the Best Brewing Company under the name Best Select, the beer earned critical acclaim at multiple nineteenth-century industrial expositions. In 1882, the brewery began hand-tying real silk blue ribbons around the necks of its bottles to distinguish the award-winning brew. Customers routinely asked bartenders for "the blue ribbon beer," prompting the company to officially adopt the Pabst Blue Ribbon name in the late 1890s. Bolstered by pervasive mid-century marketing campaigns asking the famous question, "What'll you have?", the brand cemented its place as a cornerstone of twentieth-century American lager culture.

The brewery traces its heritage to 1844, when Jacob Best and his sons founded the Empire Brewery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Steamship captain Frederick Pabst married into the family in the 1860s and quickly steered the company toward major technological modernization and national shipping networks. Under his guidance, the business was renamed the Pabst Brewing Company and rose to become the largest brewer in the country by volume. Pabst navigated Prohibition by producing malt extract, soda, and processed cheese before roaring back after repeal and adding production plants in cities across the United States.

For breweriana collectors, 10-ounce flat top containers offer a distinct profile within a category heavily dominated by standard 12-ounce cans. The mid-century Pabst flat top is an enduring centerpiece for collections focused on classic national lagers, capturing the peak era of steel-can production and Milwaukee's historic brewing dominance.