Schlitz Beer Flat Top Can

1954 Schlitz Los Angeles Flat Top

This 12-ounce flat top beer can represents the 1954 packaging era for the Jos. Schlitz Brewing Company, bearing brewery designations for the company's Los Angeles, California operations. The face design showcases Schlitz's definitive mid-century look, anchored by the tilted red rectangular banner enclosing the flowing white script logo. Above the main banner, the volume is noted as "12 ozs." alongside the circular Schlitz globe trademark medallion, while the upper red rim band carries the statement "CONTENTS 12 FLUID OUNCES." Positioned across the lower off-white section is the enduring company slogan, "The BEER That Made Milwaukee Famous."

Schlitz was among the most heavily marketed and widely consumed American beer brands of the twentieth century. The brand gained enormous momentum following the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, when the brewery shipped hundreds of barrels of beer to the stricken city as disaster relief, establishing nationwide goodwill and cementing its famous slogan. By the 1950s, supported by major national print and broadcast advertising campaigns, Schlitz consistently traded places at the very top of American brewing volume, serving as a staple of post-war domestic lagers.

The origins of the Jos. Schlitz Brewing Company trace back to 1849, when German immigrant August Krug established a small brewery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Following Krug's death, bookkeeper Joseph Schlitz took over management, eventually renaming the business in 1858. The company weathered Prohibition by manufacturing non-alcoholic malt tonics and baking supplies before quickly returning to dominant production upon repeal. In 1954, Schlitz broadened its manufacturing footprint by opening a large, modern brewing and packaging plant in the Van Nuys area of Los Angeles. Schlitz remained a powerhouse until cost-cutting recipe alterations and labor strikes triggered a sharp decline in the late 1970s, culminating in its 1982 acquisition by the Stroh Brewery Company.

For breweriana collectors, mid-1950s flat top cans document the post-war decentralization of national brewing giants. Cans from the initial year of the Los Angeles facility's operation hold strong appeal for collectors documenting West Coast brewing history and classic mid-century graphic packaging.