Schlitz Beer Flat Top Can

1960 Schlitz Beer Flat Top Can

This 12-ounce flat top beer can represents the Jos. Schlitz Brewing Company's West Coast canning operations from 1960. Packaged for distribution from the company's Los Angeles, California plant, the can showcases mid-century packaging graphics, including the angled rhomboid banner bearing the cursive Schlitz logotype, gold filigree flanking the hemispherical globe trademark at the top, and the slogan "The Beer that made Milwaukee Famous" scripted across the lower body.

The Brand

Schlitz earned its reputation as one of the premier national beer brands in the late 19th century. Following the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, the company sent hundreds of barrels of fresh drinking water and beer southward to assist displaced residents, cementing immense goodwill across the Midwest. By 1893, the company formalized its legendary slogan, "The Beer that made Milwaukee Famous." Schlitz pioneered major packaging developments, including dark brown glass bottles to prevent light spoiling in 1912 and early beverage can designs in the mid-1930s. Through aggressive nationwide marketing, Schlitz battled Anheuser-Busch for decades for the title of America's top-selling beer before market shifts and corporate missteps led to its eventual purchase by Stroh and later ownership under Pabst.

The Brewery

The brewery traces its origins to 1849, when German immigrant August Krug opened a small tavern brewery in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Following Krug's death, bookkeeper Joseph Schlitz took over operations in 1858 and incorporated the Jos. Schlitz Brewing Company. Surviving Prohibition by producing near beer and malt syrups under the Schlitz Beverage Company name, the post-repeal era saw immense corporate expansion. To meet surging demand in the western United States, Schlitz built a massive, modern brewing facility in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles (Van Nuys) in 1954, allowing regional packaging without shipping across the continent.

Collecting Context

For can collectors, late-era flat tops from the dawn of the 1960s mark the end of the traditional steel flat top era just before the widespread arrival of tabbed openers. Examples issued by national brewers with specific regional plant mandatories, such as Los Angeles, are sought after by collectors who specialize in regional canning variations, California brewing history, and classic mid-century graphic design.