West Virginia Special Export Beer Cone Top Can

West Virginia Special Export Can

Manufactured as a high-profile cone top container, this twelve-ounce can represents a classic mid-century package from West Virginia's most prominent regional brewing operation. In can cataloging, this specific variation is noted for having no union label below the side contents statement. The label artwork centers on an outline map of West Virginia filled with red horizontal hatching, clearly pinpointing the brewery's hometown of Huntington along the western border. Flanking the map is a heraldic crest bearing an ornate German blackletter "F" nestled among barley heads and hop cones, balanced below by the brewery name rendered in Old English script.

The West Virginia Special Export brand originated as the brewery's flagship label, designed to foster fierce regional loyalty throughout the Ohio River Valley and Appalachian coal country. Advertised with strong regional pride, the beer became synonymous with the long-running company slogan, "West Virginia, That'll Win Ya". Positioned as a dependable everyday lager, the brand was packaged in both bottles and cone top cans through the mid-20th century, remaining the brewery's primary volume driver until the plant changed hands in the late 1960s.

The Fesenmeier brewing dynasty traced its roots to Cumberland, Maryland, where German immigrant Michael Fesenmeier began brewing on a family homestead after the Civil War. In 1899, the family expanded into Huntington—purchasing an existing plant in Central City and establishing the West Virginia Brewing Company. When statewide Prohibition took effect in 1914, years ahead of national legislation, the facility stayed afloat by converting to cold storage, meatpacking, and ice cream manufacturing. With Repeal, the family reopened under the Fesenmeier Brewing Company name in 1934. Although business thrived through the post-World War II years, market consolidation by national brewing giants eroded local market share. The family sold the business in 1968, and after a short-lived reorganization as the Little Switzerland Brewing Company, the brewery closed permanently in 1971.

Among breweriana enthusiasts, cans from West Virginia hold significant interest because the state was home to very few packaging breweries during the canned beer era. As Fesenmeier served as the state's lone regional brewer for decades, its bold state-map cone tops remain enduring favorites for collector showcases focusing on Appalachian history and cone top design.