Schlitz Beer Flat Top Can

Schlitz 1960 Aluminum Softop Can

This 12-ounce flat top beer can from the Jos. Schlitz Brewing Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, captures a pivotal technological moment in beverage packaging history. Originating around 1960, the can features a prominent promotional emblem near the top left reading "easy opening ALUMINUM SOFTOP" enclosed in a blue line with an arrow pointing upward to the rim. This feature highlighted the industry's shift toward soft-top can ends, where a pliable aluminum lid was crimped onto a traditional steel body so consumers could pierce it with a churchkey far more effortlessly. The label incorporates the classic Schlitz cursive script across a slanted burgundy field with gold borders, accompanied by the circular world globe logo and the legendary motto, "The Beer that made Milwaukee Famous".

Schlitz stood among the most iconic names in American brewing for over a century. The brand gained massive prominence and its renowned slogan following the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, when the brewery shipped hundreds of barrels of drinking water and beer southward to aid the devastated city. During the mid-20th century, heavy advertising and national distribution positioned Schlitz as a premier lager, frequently contending for the title of the nation's best-selling brew. Although misguided brewing formula changes in the 1970s damaged its market share, the brand survived and was later absorbed by the Stroh Brewery Company and eventually Pabst.

The Jos. Schlitz Brewing Company originated in 1849 when August Krug founded a modest brewing operation in Milwaukee. Following Krug's death, former bookkeeper Joseph Schlitz took control, and the business was later guided to national dominance by Krug's nephews, the Uihlein brothers. Schlitz weathered Prohibition by selling malt syrups and near-beer, emerging ready to modernize and expand nationwide after repeal with state-of-the-art facilities across the country.

To breweriana enthusiasts, this can is a prized example of the transitional period between traditional all-steel containers and self-opening tab designs. The overt "Softop" promotional lettering makes it an important historical artifact from the early 1960s convenience revolution in the canning industry.