Wooden Shoe Lager Beer Cone Top Can

Wooden Shoe Lager Beer Cone Top

This 12-ounce high-profile cone top can represents the flagship offering of The Wooden Shoe Brewing Company of Minster, Ohio. Manufactured during the mid-twentieth century, the container includes an Internal Revenue Tax Paid statement alongside a 3.2% to 7% alcohol declaration. Its label art prominently features two figures in traditional Dutch attire and wooden clogs raising foaming steins in a toast, set beside blooming tulips, a sailboat, and a classic windmill.

The Wooden Shoe brand originated in 1913 under the Star Brewing Company, created as an affectionate nod to the local heritage of western Ohio. The brand quickly grew into the brewery's most recognizable product, promoted in regional marketing campaigns as a premium, refreshing lager. It proved so central to the company's identity and commercial success that the brewery eventually took the brand name as its corporate title. During its peak years, Wooden Shoe beer enjoyed widespread distribution throughout Ohio and across neighboring states.

The brewery itself traced its roots to 1869, when Franz Lange established a brewing facility in Minster to supply the region with clean, crisp lagers. After rebuilding following a destructive fire in the late 1880s, the plant was reorganized as the Star Brewing Company. During Prohibition, the business weathered the dry years by changing its name to the Star Beverage Company and pivoting to near beer, soda, and commercial ice. Following Repeal in 1933, the brewery expanded, officially incorporating as The Wooden Shoe Brewing Company in 1939. The operation served as Minster's primary employer and an economic anchor, generating tax revenues that funded municipal expenses. Mounting competition from national mega-breweries during the postwar era eventually forced the local plant to close in 1954.

Among breweriana collectors, cone top cans from smaller regional producers hold strong appeal. The Wooden Shoe line is especially appreciated for its colorful, nostalgic folk imagery and its enduring significance to Ohio's brewing heritage.