Pabst Export Beer Flat Top Can

Pabst Export TapaCan Flat Top

Produced during the mid-1930s Premier-Pabst Corporation era, this flat top represents a defining milestone in early canned beer history. The container features the company's two-city mandatory statement, acknowledging operations in both Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Peoria Heights, Illinois. Printed along the upper rim is the "TapaCan" trade moniker paired with American Can Company’s "Keglined" trademark and the consumer assurance "SAME AS BOTTLE," while the lower blue band displays the directive "COOL BEFORE SERVING." Carrying an alternative state-mandated tax statement, this specific variation is documented in Kevin Lilek’s reference work on cans with opening instructions under entry 644.

Pabst Export originated in the late nineteenth century as a premium lager, predating the universal dominance of the Blue Ribbon moniker. Following the repeal of Prohibition, the company revived the Export label to spearhead its historic entry into canned packaging in August 1935. Pabst became the first national shipping brewery—and only the second American brewing company overall—to market beer in tin cans. Marketing campaigns heavily promoted the proprietary "TapaCan" design, assuring buyers that the sealed vessel locked in "Brewery Goodness," defended the liquid from light damage, and required no bottle deposits. As consumer preference increasingly centralized around the Blue Ribbon identity in the late 1930s, the standalone Export designation was phased out and folded into the primary brand line.

The brewery traces its origins to 1844, when Jacob Best and his sons established the Empire Brewery in Milwaukee. Under the leadership of Best's son-in-law, Captain Frederick Pabst, the enterprise grew into one of the country's preeminent brewing dynasties and adopted the Pabst Brewing Company name in 1889. The brewery navigated Prohibition by manufacturing malt extract, cheese, and soft drinks. In 1932, anticipation of Repeal led to a merger with Harris Perlstein's Premier Malt Products Company, operating as the Premier-Pabst Corporation until reverting to Pabst Brewing Company in 1938. While Pabst expanded vigorously through the mid-century, intensifying industry consolidation ultimately triggered the closure of its historic Milwaukee plant in 1996, shifting the label into contract production.

Among breweriana collectors, opening-instruction flat tops from the mid-1930s stand among the most prized relics of the industry's packaging revolution. The short-lived Premier-Pabst corporate credit, early "TapaCan" branding, and multi-city markings make this piece an important window into the birth of the modern beer can.