Schlitz Sunshine Vitamin D Beer Cone Top Can

Schlitz Sunshine Vitamin D Cone Top

This low-profile cone top container represents one of the most distinctive packaging chapters of the mid-1930s canning revolution. Produced for the Jos. Schlitz Brewing Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the twelve-ounce can carries an Internal Revenue Tax Paid (IRTP) tax statement and is marked with a mandatory alcohol content statement specifying 4-3/4%. Beyond its low-profile spout design, the front face stands out visually with its radiant lettering: the words "SUNSHINE" and "VITAMIN D" take center stage beneath the angled Schlitz script, with the letters of "VITAMIN D" lined with stylized radiant tick marks that suggest glowing sunbeams.

Schlitz introduced "Sunshine Vitamin D Beer" in 1936, riding a wave of nationwide enthusiasm for vitamin research sparked by University of Wisconsin biochemist Harry Steenbock’s patent for vitamin D irradiation. Schlitz marketed the beer as a wellness tonic with ads urging Americans to drink it daily for "health with enjoyment," promising radiant vigor and year-round sunshine benefits alongside their long-running slogan, "The Beer That Made Milwaukee Famous". The concept, however, fell out of favor by the late 1930s as federal authorities began cracking down on questionable medicinal and health claims made on alcoholic beverages. The short-lived formulation was quietly phased out within just a few years.

Jos. Schlitz Brewing Company traced its beginnings to 1849, when August Krug established a small brewery in Milwaukee. Following Krug's passing, former bookkeeper Joseph Schlitz assumed ownership and guided the company onto the national stage. Schlitz earned nationwide acclaim after donating boatloads of fresh water and beer to Chicago during the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, establishing its legendary slogan and expanding distribution dramatically across the country. During Prohibition, the brewery survived by manufacturing malt syrups, yeast, and soda, and it rebounded quickly following repeal. In September 1935, Schlitz partnered with Continental Can Company to become an early pioneer of crown-sealed cone top cans. Schlitz went on to become the largest brewing company in the United States by mid-century, though labor strife and recipe controversies in the 1970s eventually led to its acquisition by the Stroh Brewery Company in 1982.

Among breweriana collectors, cone top cans from the late 1930s hold a revered place as relics of canning's formative era. The Schlitz Sunshine Vitamin D can is especially prized not merely as an early low-profile cone, but as an artifact reflecting the short-lived era when breweries attempted to promote lager as a legitimate health supplement.