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Continental Can Company   

To find a can, match up your can's shape (pictures below) and then go to the lists (to the right).

TONS OF PICTURES, CLICK ON THE LINKS BELOW

 

Continental Can Company

        1935 List with PICTURE links

        1936 List with PICTURE links

        1937-42 List with PICTURE links

The first cone top cans from Continental Can Company were called "Cap-Sealed Can". The early cans are known to hobbyists as Low Profile Cans. The initial production runs of these cans in the fall of 1935 were made with Flat Bottoms and Inverted Ribs (FBIR) shown on the far left. Then in the spring of 1936 they were made with Concave bottoms and Raised Ribs (CBRR) shown on the near left. Both FBIR's and CBRR's are considered "low Profile cans." These low profile cans were produced  by Continental can up until the early 1940's.

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US cone top beer cans had their start in 1935 shortly after flat top cans were introduced (see below for flats). This was only a few years after prohibition had ended. Breweries, large or small, designed label graphics and then bought the empty cans from one of a few can manufacturing companies. With the cone top cans, the individual breweries then modified their bottling equipment to fill and cap the cans. The early major cone top beer can companies were: Continental Can Company, Crown Cork & Seal, and American Can Company. Continental Can started producing cone top cans for beer in 1935. Crown Cork & Seal started producing cone top cans for beer in 1937. American Can Company also started producing cone top cans for beer in 1937. 

TONS OF PICTURES, CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW

 

Continental Can Company

       PreW.W.II (low Profile) and

       PostW.W.II (High Profile) matched

       can pair PICTURE list
Starting in 1940 and during WWII Continental can company changed from their low profile can (left) to their high profile can (right). The transition varied between breweries dependent on each brand . The transition occurred either just before, during, or after  the war. There were a few olive drab low profile cans and several high profile olive drab cans produced during the war. Cans from breweries that started  their transition before W.W.II i.e.  (1940-2) can be identified by the early 1940's bulb. For the current "List of early 40's bulb Prewar Transition Cans" Click here . Continental Can Company then produced the high profile cans until the mid-50's.

 

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Continental Can Company

        The rest of the High profiles:

        About 1946 up until the mid 1950's

        PICTURE List

             
From  about 1946  until the 1950's Continental can company produced cone tops with a great variety of colorful and often artistic can labels. The can's shape remained the same during this period. This is the largest list of  cone top cans.  The cones produced before 1950 had the "Internal Revenue Tax Paid" (IRTP) phrase on them and the cans produced after 1950 did not have this IRTP phrase on them.

Crown Cork & Seal Co

TONS OF PICTURES, CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW

 

Crown Cork & Seal

           J-spout Can List with PICTURES

Crown Cork & Seal entered the market about 1937 with their J-spout can and produced it until early in WWII. The Standard (on the left) is an early "Internal Revenue Tax Paid" (IRTP) can. There were two J-spouts produced in olive drab with "Withdrawn Free of Internal Revenue Tax For Exportation" printed on them.  Blatz is one, the other olive drab J-spout is Iroquois Beer

 

TONS OF PICTURES, CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW

 

Crown Cork & Seal

 

       Crowntainer beer can List with PICTURE links
In 1940 Crown Cork & Seal started making their cone top Crowntainer beer cans. From late 1939 until 1942 the basecoat color was metallic silver or bone. From about 1942 to 1946 the basecoat was light gray without any metallic or olive drab, and from about 1946 until the mid 1950s the basecoat was either metallic silver or bone color. The early crowntainers  will have a box on the side stating "CROWNTAINER REG'D U.S. PAT. OFF." After 1945 the box on the side states "CROWNTAINER REG. U.S. PAT. OFF NO. 366873 PATENT NO.2384810..."

American can Company

NO PICTURES, CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW (for list)

 

American Can Company

American Can Co Can List

In 1937 American Can Company entered the market with their High spout (high profile) can. Initially these cans had high profile cones and flat bottoms. These flat bottom high profile cans were eventually changed to concave bottomed high profile cans until the early 1950's. They essentially look like the Continental Can Company's High profile cone top beer cans.

More general cone top information

During W.W.II there was a shortage of tin and can sales slowed considerably. Beer cans were produced for the military. These cans have the statement "Withdrawn Free of Internal Revenue Tax for Exportation" and had to conform to an olive drab (OD) appearance. A few olive drab labels were made in low profile & J spouts early during WW2 but these types of cans were then discontinued during the war. Crowntainers from 1943 to 1945 were either olive drab or a non-metallic light gray color. Post WW2 cans were either high profile cones or crowntainers. With very few exceptions, non-military cone top cans from the earliest cone until March of 1950 all had the statement "Internal Revenue Tax Paid" where as after that no tax statement was needed. Cone top cans became  largely obsolete in the mid 1950’s.

Flats were the first beer cans to appear in early 1935. American Can initially produced cans for Krueger Cream Ale to test market in Virginia. After initial great success, other breweries signed on, notably Pabst in mid 1935. Most flat top cans in the 1930's had opening instructions and are known as Instructionals or an Instructional beer can.

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Jeff Steeno BCCA  #28141

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