Renner Premium Beer Cone Top Can

Renner Premium Beer Cone Top

Produced in the early 1950s, this twelve-ounce high-profile cone top was packaged for The Renner Co. of Youngstown, Ohio. Fabricated by the Continental Can Company, the can represents the postwar phase of Renner's packaging, appearing in non-IRTP form following the repeal of mandatory federal tax statements on malt beverage containers. A standout visual detail on the front label is the circular crest situated directly above the bold block lettering, which features a pair of jaunty, top-hatted figures dressed in formal wear strolling arm-in-arm. When preserved with its factory-applied crown, the spout displays a stamped state tax seal indicating the paid tax rate.

Renner Premium Beer served as the brewery's flagship lager during the postwar era, positioned as a refined local beverage meant to counter the rising tide of national shipping brands entering northeastern Ohio. The spiffy mascot duo on the label became affectionately celebrated in Youngstown lore under the name "Sneaky Pete," a moniker locals humorously attributed to how smoothly the beer drank before its strength caught up with the consumer. Following the closure of the Youngstown plant, the brand name was sold to the Old Crown Brewing Corporation of Fort Wayne, Indiana, which kept the Renner name in regional distribution for another decade.

The Renner brewing operation traced its origins back to 1885, when German immigrant brewer George J. Renner Jr. acquired an idle brewing plant along Pike Street near the Mahoning River. After an 1889 boiler explosion and resulting fire destroyed the original facility, Renner constructed a state-of-the-art brick plant that grew into the largest brewing establishment in the Mahoning Valley. The business survived the thirteen years of Prohibition by selling ice, soda water, and a low-alcohol cereal beverage called "Reno." Resuming full-strength production as The Renner Co. after Repeal, the brewery modernized its equipment and flourished through the 1940s. Ultimately, intensifying competition from large national shipping breweries forced the independent local landmark to shutter in 1962.

For breweriana enthusiasts, cone top cans from Ohio's industrial belt represent an important artifact of mid-century industrial life. This Renner Premium can remains popular among collectors of regional graphic packaging thanks to its rich two-tone palette, bold layout, and the charismatic "Sneaky Pete" character emblem.