Reserve Of Wisconsin Beer Flat Top Can

Reserve of Wisconsin Flat Top Can

This 12-ounce steel flat top dates to the late 1950s, produced during an era when regional brewers embraced eye-catching graphic packaging. The can is notable for its metallic finish, incorporating shimmering unpainted metal accents integrated into the lithography. Behind the central crimson shield, fine metallic diagonal striping sweeps across an off-white field. The front display presents "Reserve of WISCONSIN BEER" in stylized white lettering, framed above by the slogan "THE SELECT WISCONSIN BEER" and grounded along the base by the italicized motto, "Brewed and Aged in the Beautiful Wisconsin Land-O-Lakes." Mandatory text on the side identifies the packaging brewery as the Wisconsin Brewing Company of Waukesha, Wisconsin.

Introduced in the late 1950s, Reserve of Wisconsin was developed to capitalize on the state's storied brewing reputation. Positioned as an approachable yet premium-sounding regional brew, marketing for the brand emphasized pure water sources and scenic vacationland nostalgia through its "Land-O-Lakes" and "Select" slogans. As national shipping breweries mounted aggressive advertising campaigns to dominate tavern taps and grocery store shelves, secondary labels like Reserve of Wisconsin gave local plants a dedicated regional product. The label remained on the market only briefly, disappearing in the early 1960s when brewing at the facility ceased.

Wisconsin Brewing Company served as an alternate operating trade name utilized by the Fox Head Brewing Company between 1956 and 1962. Fox Head traced its heritage back to 1893, when it was established as the Waukesha Spring Brewing Company to harness the city's famed mineral springs. After navigating Prohibition by bottling sparkling water and soft beverages, the brewery resumed beer production in 1933 and gained fame through flagship brands such as Fox Head 400 and Old Waukesha. By the mid-1950s, heavy industry consolidation forced Fox Head to employ multiple corporate aliases, including the Wisconsin Brewing Company banner, to package proprietary and private-label beers. Escalating competition and corporate shifts ultimately culminated in the plant's permanent closure in 1962.

For breweriana collectors, this can serves as an evocative artifact from the twilight years of Waukesha's historic brewing industry. Midwest regional specialists and flat top enthusiasts value the can for its bold patriotic color scheme, the metallic decorative striping, and its tribute to Wisconsin's scenic lakeland heritage.