White block text with black accents on a blue background

The Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company, once the largest producer of beer in the United States, was founded in 1849 and was an American brewery based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Its namesake beer, Schlitz, was known as "The beer that made Milwaukee famous" and was advertised with the slogan "When you're out of Schlitz, you're out of beer." The 1960s classic "gusto" version of Schlitz currently enjoys an almost nation-wide distribution in the United States. The classic 1960s theme was also reflected when 1968 Playboy magazine playmate Cynthia Myers became a spokeswoman for Schlitz beer in 2009.

Black text on yellow sun background with red around the rim.

Rheingold Beer, introduced in 1883, is a New York beer that held 35 percent of the state's beer market from 1950 to 1960. According to the New York Times, "Rheingold Beer was once a top New York brew guzzled regularly by a loyal cadre of workingmen who would just as soon have eaten nails as drink another beer maker's suds." At the center of its media campaign was the "Miss Rheingold" pageant. Beer drinkers voted each year on the young lady who would be featured as Miss Rheingold in advertisements. In the 1940s and 1950s in New York, the selection of Miss Rheingold was said to be as highly anticipated as the race for the White House. Rheingold shut down operations in 1976, when they were unable to compete with the large national breweries.

Brown text on white background.

The Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company was an American brewery based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and once the largest producer of beer in the United States. Its namesake beer, Schlitz, was known as "The beer that made Milwaukee famous" and was advertised with the slogan "When you're out of Schlitz, you're out of beer." The company became the largest brewery in the world in 1902, producing over 1 million barrels. Although the company had some rough patches during prohibition and World War II, the company continued to prosper. Schlitz, although now owned by Pabst, was extremely innovative and was the first brewing company to introduce brown bottles, tall boys, and pop-top cans.

Photograph of Son Seals and an image of an Olympia beer can, with blue text on a white background.

The Olympia Brewing Company was a brewery firm in Tumwater, Washington, USA which existed from 1896 until 1983. In 1902, Olympia Brewing Company chose the slogan "It's the Water" to promote its flagship product. Frank "Son" Seals was an American electric blues guitarist and singer. Seals twice headlined the Chicago Blues Festival and was featured in a television commercial for Olympia Beer.

Yellow text outlined in black and red script text on a white background. Black and yellow illustration of the Olympia horseshoe logo.

The Olympia Brewing Company was a brewery firm in Tumwater, Washington, USA which existed from 1896 until 1983. It was acquired in the latter year by what would eventually become Pabst Brewing Company. Olympia Beer was a very popular regional brand in the Pacific Northwest. It eventually expanded nationwide, repositioned as a low-price lager. During the 1970s, Olympia acquired Hamm's and Lone Star. Olympia Brewing also produced Buckhorn Beer, which had previously been a product of the Lone Star Brewing Company. For many years, Olympia Beer was brewed with water obtained from artesian wells. The company's promotions made much of the use of artesian water in the brewing process. However, the advertisements never explained what artesian water was, preferring to claim that the water was controlled by a mythical population of "Artesians".

Faded red text and black text on an orange background. A black circle outline with a black money bag outline.

Monarch Brewing was founded in 1890 as the Josef Hladovec Brewing Company in Chicago.  It was purchased and renamed by I. Baumgartl and Charles Stein as the Monarch Brewing Company in 1892 and later merged with the United Breweries Company in 1898.  They stayed in operation through the prohibition years making soda and near beer but were suspected of making underground real beer, a common rumor for every brewery in the city.  After prohibition was repealed they struggled with competition from larger companies and the Great Depression.  They turned to television advertising in the late 40’s and switched to conetops and flat tops for their cheaper brands like Bullfrog.  In 1958 Monarch was sold to former Al Capone Lieutenant Joseph Fusco and renamed Van Merritt Brewing.  It stayed at the old plant with the new name until it closed in 1967.

See more photos of pre- and post-prohibition beer buttons on the Busy Beaver blog.

Illustration of the Bud Man in a red superhero outfit with a red mask, blue cape, and blue gloves driving a red and white U-12 Miss Budweiser hydroplane, on a white background with blue and red text.

Budweiser is a pale lager produced by Anheuser–Busch InBev. Introduced in 1876 by Adolphus Busch from Saint Louis, MO it has grown to become one of the highest selling beers in the United States, and is available in over 80 markets worldwide.

The Miss Budweiser were 22 hydroplanes sponsored by Budweiser beer. They were owned by Bernie Little and his youngest son, Joe. Anheuser-Busch sponsorship began in 1963, thanks to the friendship of Bernie, and Anheuser-Busch President August Busch, III. Joe stopped racing after the 2004 season, when changes in Anheuser-Busch leadership resulted in them ending their 43 years of sponsorship.

White text with a sandwich cut in half and a can of beer in the middle with a black background

Miller High Life started being manufactured in 1903 and is Miller's oldest brand. One of the most popular Miller High Life advertising slogans was "Miller Time". Miller High Life is known for its elongated bottles and "Girl on the Moon" logo.

Black and red text on a yellow bubble with a beer bottle and glass full of beer on ice on a black background.

Metbrau was a non-alcoholic brew produced by Metropolis Brewery of New Jersey, which was a company of Iroquois Brands. Iroquois Brewery was founded in 1842, and it remained open during Prohibition by brewing soda and “near beer”, one of those being Metbrau. The “all natural  draft non alcoholic malt beverage” gained new popularity during the mid-1980s fitness craze, and by 1987, Metbrau was ranked #1 in sales of non-alcoholic beers. By the 1990s, however, Iroquois Brands and its subsidiaries had been sold and most of them closed, including Metbrau’s producer. 

Brown text on a yellow background, white text on a brown rectangle, white text on a dark yellow rectangle, with an illustration of a brown ram's head.

Jacob Ruppert, Jr., was an American brewer, businessman, National Guard colonel, and United States Congressman who served for four terms representing New York from 1899 to 1907. He also owned the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball from 1915 until his death in 1939. Although Ruppert had owned the Yankees, Knickerbocker Beer - made by the Ruppert Brewery - was the official beer of the New York Giants.