Sick's Select Beer Flat Top Can

Sick's Select Flat Top Can History

This flat top can from Seattle Brewing & Malting Co. represents one of the Pacific Northwest's most recognizable mid-century regional brews. The label design features a distinctive faux-parchment background framed by rich red bands, crowned along the top rim with the slogan "The Famous Beer from Seattle." A large red numeral "6" serves as the central graphic anchor behind the gothic typography, overlaid with a banner displaying the clever phonetic wordplay: "Trade Mark '6' Sick's Symbolic Pronunciation." The lower portion reinforces brand authenticity with a facsimile signature and endorsement statement from brewery president E. G. Sick.

Emil G. Sick introduced the Sick's Select brand in August 1939. Sick, who had assembled an extensive brewing enterprise across the Pacific Northwest and western Canada, initially marketed the beverage as a premium American table beer. Beyond expanding the product line, introducing Sick's Select served a strategic distribution purpose: territorial agreements with the San Francisco-based Rainier Brewing Company restricted the distribution of the Rainier label to Washington and Alaska, so the Sick's Select name allowed the company to sell a Seattle-brewed premium product in lucrative markets across Oregon and California. The brand remained a core regional staple through the 1940s and 1950s.

Seattle Brewing & Malting Co. was originally incorporated in 1892 through the consolidation of several pioneering Washington breweries, including the Bay View Brewery and Claussen-Sweeney Brewing Company. Best known as the creator of Rainier Beer, the firm grew into one of the largest brewing enterprises on the West Coast before statewide Prohibition shut down Washington operations in 1916. Following the Repeal of Prohibition, Emil Sick acquired and revitalized the historic Seattle enterprise. The company later operated as Sicks' Seattle Brewing & Malting Co. and eventually Sicks' Rainier Brewing Company before being acquired by larger national brewing groups in the 1970s.

For breweriana enthusiasts, early flat tops from Seattle Brewing & Malting Co. occupy an important place in Pacific Northwest collecting history. The graphic combination of Emil Sick's personal endorsement and the phonetic "6" trademark makes this can an iconic piece of mid-century regional brewing heritage.