Schlitz Sunshine Vitamin D Beer Cone Top Can

Schlitz Sunshine Vitamin D Cone Top

Manufactured by Continental Can Company in the mid-1930s, this low-profile cone top represents a specialized export release of the Jos. Schlitz Brewing Company's flagship offering. Set apart by its top-rim volume declaration reading "CONTENTS 35 CENTILITRES" rather than traditional fluid ounces, the can carries a 4-3/4% alcohol statement alongside an export designation indicating it was withdrawn free of internal revenue tax. The face prominently features the brewery's flowing script logo above "SUNSHINE VITAMIN D," rendered in stylized block lettering with radiating sunburst tick marks, anchored below by the legendary slogan "the BEER that made Milwaukee famous".

Schlitz introduced Sunshine Vitamin D Beer in 1936 to capitalize on the public fascination with nutrition and newly discovered vitamins. Inspired by pioneering University of Wisconsin research regarding the irradiation of yeast to generate vitamin D, Schlitz treated its brew with ultraviolet light and promoted it as a revitalizing dietary beverage. Campaigns claimed the beer brought the vitality of natural sunlight to indoor living, adopting taglines emphasizing that while ordinary beer was good, Schlitz was "extra good for you". The marketing hook was discontinued before the decade's close as regulatory scrutiny mounted and consumer interest shifted back to conventional brewing claims.

Founded in Milwaukee in 1849, the brewery took the Schlitz name after bookkeeper Joseph Schlitz took helm of the operation. The company vaulted to national prominence after sending emergency shipments of fresh water and beer to Chicago in the aftermath of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, an act of goodwill that directly inspired its famous municipal motto. The company survived Prohibition by marketing malt syrup, confections, and near-beer, emerging rapidly upon repeal to regain its status as an industry leader and pioneer in modern canning. Following labor strikes in the 1950s and costly reformulation missteps in the 1970s, the brewing powerhouse declined and was eventually absorbed by Stroh in 1982.

Within breweriana collecting, the Sunshine Vitamin D design is celebrated as a prime artifact of early canned beer marketing, capturing the unusual intersection of Depression-era brewing and dietary fads. Can variations bearing metric centilitre indicators and export tax statements are especially compelling to specialists, illustrating the brewery's worldwide reach during the formative years of metal packaging.