Rheingold Extra Dry Lager Beer Flat Top Can

Miss Rheingold Margie McNally Can

This flat top container represents one of the most famous advertising campaigns in American brewing history: the annual Miss Rheingold contest. Produced by Liebmann Breweries at its Orange, New Jersey facility, this 12-ounce can features Margie McNally, who was elected by the voting public as Miss Rheingold 1957.

First established in 1940, the Miss Rheingold pageant developed into an East Coast cultural sensation. Each year, brewery executives narrowed thousands of applicants down to six finalists. Ballots and ballot boxes were distributed to thousands of taverns, grocery stores, and package stores throughout Rheingold's primary distribution markets. The contest routinely generated millions of votes from beer drinkers, rivaling major civic elections in voter engagement.

For the 1957 campaign, Liebmann printed the portraits of the contestants directly onto beer cans to introduce them to the public. After Queens native Margie McNally won the election, the brewery issued commemorative winner cans bearing her portrait and name. McNally spent 1957 serving as the official face of Rheingold, featured in a succession of widely distributed magazine ads, billboard campaigns, and personal appearances.

The can displays the traditional Rheingold Extra Dry Lager graphics paired with McNally's likeness and mandatory text referencing the brewery's Orange, New Jersey location. Because Liebmann operated facilities in different locations, variations of the Miss Rheingold cans exist across different brewery mandatory texts and subtle lithograph markings. Cans from this series remain sought-after artifacts of mid-century American commercial art and regional brewing heritage.