Drewry's Set Cans

During the 1950s most of the small breweries that had opened when prohibition ended in 1934 had gone out of business and most of the remaining ones were struggling.  Even some medium-sized regional breweries were struggling.  To boost business, a number of the remaining breweries tried a different marketing strategy; sets with cans in different colors and designs.  This made the cans seem more "fun" and party-like and the brewers hoped people would buy extra for parties in addition to everyday home consumption.  The designs would also increase the can's "eye-appeal" and make the brand stand out from the rest on the store shelves.

One of the most prolific breweries to follow this strategy was Drewry's Brewing of South Bend , Indiana which was in business from 1936-1966 when it became part of Associated Brewing.    Drewry's produced several multi-colored series, three with silhouettes of sports figures on them, one that told you how to tell your character by the shape of your nose, chin, face, etc. (Of course, all of the character traits were positive!)   My favorite, however is the horoscope series which had cans each with two different star signs on them, plus a description of the traits associated with that astrological sign.  The sets began about 1954 and ended in about 1958.

Drewry's sign advertising from one of the first two sets.

This page examines the 5 Drewry's sets and lists all the cans in each set.  The dates for each set are as best as I can determine and may be off by a year or so.  I am still looking for six-pack holders, signs, ads, etc., from these sets!

Three of the five sets were produced by both the South Bend and Chicago breweries.  In each case, the Chicago cans are harder to find.  The cans were made by both National Can and by American Can.   The American Can Company cans have a small "C" on those filled in Chicago and an "S" on those filled by South Bend.

 

The "S" means this can was filled in South Bend. Cans filled in Chicago have a "C". This applies only to cans made by American Can Company, those made by National Can have no such letters.

Set 1: Silver Sports Silhouettes Series: 1954

The logo on the front of this can is an oval. The player silhouettes on these cans are silver.  This may be the hardest 12 oz set to complete.  They were made only in South Bend.

Color	Notes
Blue
Bronze
Green
Purple
Red
Yellow	often looks gold.

Set 2: White Sports Silhouettes Series #1: 1955

The logo on the front of this can is an oval. The player silhouettes on these cans are white. All these cans come from South Bend.

 

Color	Notes
Blue
Bronze
Green
Purple
Red
Yellow	often looks gold.

Set 3: White Sports Silhouettes Series #2: 1956

The logo on the front of this can is a shield. The player silhouettes on these cans are white. All these cans come from both Chicago and South Bend

 

Color	Notes
Blue
Bronze
Green
Purple
Red
Yellow	often looks gold.

Set 4: The Horoscope Series: 1957

My favorite set.  There are six different cans, each with two astrological signs.  Each design comes in three different colors.  There is one "missing" can that is not listed in either the USBC or in the Catalog of US Beer Cans.  According to an email I received from a collector, the "missing" can is gold colored (see chart below)

Front of Drewry's horoscope series can.

Can Design	Chicago/South Bend	Color	Notes
Capricorn/Aquarius	SB	gold
Capricorn/Aquarius	C	purple
Capricorn/Aquarius	SB	green
Pisces/Aries	C/SB	green	common from South Bend.
Pisces/Aries	C	orange
Pisces/Aries	SB	gold
Taurus/Gemini	SB	bronze	not pictured in USBC
Taurus/Gemini	C	green	Can from South Bend not in USBC.
Taurus/Gemini	SB	red-orange
Cancer/Leo	C/SB	blue	South Bend can possibly the most common of set?
Cancer/Leo	SB	purple
Cancer/Leo	C	red
Virgo/Libra	C/SB	red	Common from South Bend..
Virgo/Libra	SB	red-orange	Not pictured in USBC
Virgo/Libra	C/SB	blue	South Bend can not pictured in USBC.
Scorpio/Sagittarius	SB	blue	common
Scorpio/Sagittarius	C/SB	purple	common from South Bend
Scorpio/Sagittarius	C	Gold	thanks Rod S.!

 

Set 5:  The Character Series: 1958

This set has six designs and each design should have appeared in three colors each.  However, there are three cans in this set I can not account for that are not listed in either the USBC or in the Catalog of US Beer Cans, so the set MAY have had 15 cans instead of 18.  I think it more likely that I just haven't found the missing three colors as of yet.  This set also comes in 16 ounce cans, 1 color per design, that is fairly scarce.

Front of  Drewry's character series can.

Can Design	Chicago/South Bend	Color	Notes
Dimples/lips	C/SB	green
Dimples/Lips	SB	light green	not listed in USBC
Dimples/Lips	?	?	not listed in USBC.
Ear/Nose	SB	bronze	not listed in USBC
Ear/Nose	C/SB	orange
Ear/Nose	SB	red	not listed in USBC
Eyebrows/Chin	SB	purple	not listed in USBC.
Eyebrows/Chin	C/SB	purple-red
Eyebrows/Chin	C/SB	light blue	scarce
Forehead/Eyes	C/SB	red
Forehead/Eyes	?	?	not listed in USBC
Forehead/Eyes	SB	orange	not listed in USBC
Face: Heart-Oval	C/SB	blue
Face: Heart-Oval	C	reddish purple
Face: Heart-Oval	SB	purple
Face: Square-Round	C/SB	blue
Face: Square-Round	?	?	not listed in USBC
Face: Square-Round	C/SB	purple

 There is also a set of 16 oz Drewry's Character cans. They're pretty scarce.

Can Design	USBC	Color	Notes
	228-9	blue
	229-10	bronze
	229-11	green
	229-12	purple
	229-13	red
	229-14	yellow

Thanks to Steve D. for the photos of the green and yellow cans!

The Mountie loses his horse!

The Drewry's Mountie had been part of its logo for decades by the 1950s.  The Mountie, and his faithful horse, were front and center on the earliest Drewry's cans.  However, on the 1950s series cans he began to fade into the background.  See my "Mountie" page for more info.

Sources used:

Beer Can Collectors of America. Catalog of American Beer Cans. (1993)

Beer Can Collectors of America.  United States Beer Cans (Beer Can Collectors of America: Fenton, Mo)  54-57.

Kay, Bob. "'Mining' Labels...Drewry's: A Case Study"  The Breweriana Collector (Fall 1999) 24-25.