Schell's Deer Brand Beer Cone Top Can

Schell's Deer Brand Strong Cone Top

Manufactured by the Continental Can Company in the early 1950s, this twelve-ounce cone top can represents a mid-century classic from southern Minnesota. The container features high cone construction and stands out for the mandatory statement "STRONG BEER" printed along the lower front rim, distinguishing it from lower-alcohol versions produced under state regulations that governed beverages above 3.2 percent alcohol by weight. Its design centers on an ornate oval framing a detailed illustration of a white-tailed buck with expansive antlers and scrollwork set against a circular red disc, anchored by a red banner reading "Deer Brand".

Deer Brand was developed prior to Prohibition as the flagship brew of August Schell. The deer motif directly reflected the background of founder August Schell, an immigrant and former forester from Germany's Black Forest. Schell established a deer park on the brewery grounds alongside the family homestead, keeping a herd on site that became a beloved company trademark. Marketed across the Upper Midwest as a staple regional lager, Deer Brand was promoted for decades under slogans such as "It's The Taste That Tells With Schell's". The brand remained the backbone of the company's output through packaging transitions from bottles and cone tops to modern cans.

August Schell founded his brewery along the Cottonwood River in New Ulm, Minnesota, in 1860 alongside partner Jacob Bernhardt. The facility persevered through the Dakota War of 1862 and navigated Prohibition by producing near-beer, soft drinks, and malt syrup. When post-Prohibition industry consolidation swept the brewing landscape and claimed dozens of regional peers—including crosstown rival Hauenstein—Schell's maintained its family ownership. That perseverance ultimately cemented August Schell as the second-oldest continuously operating family-owned brewery in the United States.

Among breweriana collectors, Upper Midwest cone tops from independent regional breweries remain highly desirable. Cans from August Schell are celebrated for capturing small-town American brewing heritage during the postwar era. The inclusion of the alcohol-strength statement provides tangible historical evidence of the regional legal frameworks that breweries navigated during the golden age of cone top packaging.