Schlitz Beer Test Can

Schlitz 1973 Silver Test Can

This 12-ounce aluminum test can dates to 1973 and represents an experimental packaging run produced by the Jos. Schlitz Brewing Company. Unlike standard production issues of the era, this container features a bare metallic silver background behind the familiar burgundy angled banner and white script logo. Bearing a 1973 copyright date along the bottom rim alongside a seven-city brewery mandatory statement, the can is completed with an aluminum tab top. The front displays the circular globe emblem above the diagonal brand name and features the historic promotional slogan, "The Beer that made Milwaukee Famous".

Schlitz was positioned as a premium American lager and grew into one of the country's dominant beer labels. The brand gained widespread national recognition following the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, when the brewery sent emergency supplies of beer and fresh water to the stricken city. Capitalizing on the resulting goodwill, Schlitz adopted its enduring Milwaukee slogan in the late nineteenth century. By the mid-twentieth century, Schlitz regularly competed for the top sales position in the American beer market, supported by massive advertising pushes and memorable slogans such as "When you're out of Schlitz, you're out of beer." Cost-cutting recipe alterations in the mid-1970s hurt brand loyalty, however, leading to a steep decline and eventual sale to the Stroh Brewery Company in 1982.

The Jos. Schlitz Brewing Company originated in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, developing from a small brewery founded by August Krug in 1849. Joseph Schlitz assumed management and renamed the firm before his death at sea in 1875, after which the Uihlein family guided the business into an industrial giant. Schlitz survived Prohibition by manufacturing malt syrups, non-alcoholic drinks, and confections, reemerging after Repeal to construct high-capacity breweries across the country.

Test cans hold an important place in breweriana collecting because they capture pre-production design concepts, substrate experiments, and trial lithography that never entered wide retail distribution. Trial runs showcasing alternate base finishes and municipal plant designations document the technical evolution of aluminum can manufacturing during the 1970s.