Rheingold Extra Dry Lager Beer Flat Top Can

Miss Rheingold Diane Baker Can

Issued by Liebmann Breweries, Inc. of New York, this flat top can represents one of the most famous advertising campaigns in mid-century American brewing history. Released in the late 1950s, the can was part of the annual Miss Rheingold pageant, a promotional sensation in which the public voted on the face of the brand for the upcoming year.

This specific container features Diane Baker, who appeared on store shelves as a finalist for the Miss Rheingold 1957 title. While she did not win the crown, the contest proved to be a stepping stone into public visibility. Shortly after her face appeared on Rheingold cans, Baker launched a celebrated Hollywood career, making her major film debut as Margot Frank in George Stevens's The Diary of Anne Frank (1959). She went on to build a decades-long career with notable roles in classics such as Journey to the Center of the Earth, Alfred Hitchcock’s Marnie, Mirage, and The Silence of the Lambs. For breweriana and cinema history enthusiasts alike, this can offers a remarkable crossover connection to classic American film.

During this era, Rheingold Extra Dry was an East Coast powerhouse, dominating the New York metropolitan market. The Miss Rheingold balloting was a regional cultural event that drew millions of votes from beer drinkers at grocery stores and neighborhood taverns. In addition to variations produced with different brewery location statements to reflect Liebmann's expanding regional footprint, examples from this series are widely sought after for their full-color portrait lithography.